Associated Baptist Press - 3/2/2009

Associated Baptist Press
March 2, 2009 · (09-29)

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

In this issue
Faith-based leaders say budget is major shift in poverty policy (628 words)
Senate scanda divides state Democrats over race (962 words)
Justices decline to upend dedicsion barring N.J. coach from prayers (425 words)
Former Baptist deacon charged with attempted robbery of S.C. bank (485 words)

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Faith-based leaders say budget is major shift in poverty policy
By Bob Allen (628 words)

WASHINGTON (ABP) -- President Obama's first proposed budget signals a dramatic shift in prioritizing domestic poverty, centrist and liberal Christian leaders said in a teleconference with reporters March 2.

Nonetheless, some expressed concerns that portions of the proposal did not go far enough in alleviating poverty. And many conservative Christian leaders have echoed the criticisms of other conservatives -- that Obama's proposal is far too large and would create the most massive expansion of government social-service programs since Lyndon Johnson's administration.

Jim Wallis, founder and CEO of Sojourners, termed inequality between the haves and have-nots "a sin of biblical proportions" in the United States.

Wallis said budgets are "moral documents" that reveal the nation's priorities and values. For Christians, he said, there is "a religious obligation" to look out for the poor and vulnerable in society.

"For a long time we've almost thought that we don't need to bring values to bear or virtue to bear on our economic decisions -- the 'invisible hand' of the market would make everything come out all right -- but that hasn't happened," Wallis told reporters. "I would say the invisible hand has let go of the common good."

Wallis said the common good "has not been part of our decision-making for a long time now."

"This budget is a step, I think a dramatic step, to try to restore a sense of the common good," he said.

Wallis and other faith leaders applauded money in the budget for health care, the environment, education and increased foreign aid, but they also voiced concerns about the proposal they plan to address in coming weeks.

Candy Hill, senior vice president of social policy and government affairs for Catholic Charities USA, questioned the president's proposal to cut tax deductions for charitable giving for Americans in the top income brackets. She said most people who make contributions to Catholic Charities don't do so for a tax break, but because they support its mission and care for the poor.

Noel Castellanos, CEO of Christian Community Development Association, also lamented the budget does not include funds for immigration reform.

"In the Latino community you are going to hear more and more outrage and concern about the fact that no policy change means that we're going to rely on this enforcement-only strategy that divides families through ICE [the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency of the Department of Homeland Security] raids and creates more havoc of people who are victims of a system that is broken," Castellanos said.

But the leaders on the call said the particulars matter less than the overall budget trend.

"This budget clearly is an attempt to reverse a trend," Wallis said. "For three decades we've had a growing trend of massive inequality in this country. Those who have been promoting that trend have said that policies, regulations and practices which enhance and benefit the wealthiest among us will eventually benefit us all."

"I think that has proven to be false," he said. "The central moral issue in this budget, and in American politics right now, is whether we should begin to reverse the massive trend toward growing inequality after three decades."

Wallis said it is time for the government to stop helping "the undeserving rich."

"We've had this notion of the undeserving poor for a long time," Wallis said. "I'm saying now there has been a class of undeserving rich, who have been helped far more than they should be helped."

Wallis called the proposed budget "a fundamental moral shift."

"We have our concerns," he said, "but I think, fundamentally, the moral issue is whether this trend of inequality can now be halted and reversed, and we can begin to rebalance the budget more in the direction of the common good.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press. Robert Marus, ABP's managing editor and Washington bureau chief, contributed to this story.

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Senate scandal divides state Democrats over race
By Bob Allen (962 words)

CHICAGO (ABP) -- Calls for embattled Sen. Roland Burris to resign from the Senate are dividing his fellow Illinois Democrats along racial lines.

Burris, the only black United States senator, is under fire for conflicting statements about his relationship with disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The recently deposed governor appointed Burris to the seat formerly held by President Obama before Blagoevich was removed from office and charged with trying to sell the seat to the highest bidder.

White Democrats -- including Burris' Senate colleague Dick Durbin, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Attorney General Lisa Madigan -- all want the senator to step down and allow voters to decide his replacement. African-American politicians and clergy leaders claim Burris is being held to a higher standard than the other 99 senators.

"There have been senators who have been drunk, drove off a bridge, people died, no outcry for their resignation," U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) told reporters after a March 1 prayer vigil and rally supporting Burris at Chicago's New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church.

Rush, an ordained Baptist minister and former Black Panther, was referring to the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident in which Mary Jo Kopechne drowned after an automobile accident in Massachusetts. The car belonged to Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).

Rush, who organized a national coalition in January to ensure that Burris would be allowed to take the oath of office, described previous efforts denying the seat to Burris a "lynching" and compared Democratic Senate leaders tying to block him to Alabama Gov. George Wallace standing in a University of Alabama doorway to block desegregation in 1963.

Durbin said in a radio interview that racial considerations were in play when majority Democrats decided to seat Burris on Jan. 15. Durbin, who is white, said racially charged remarks by Rush "were painful and hurtful" and "became part of this calculation."

Many prominent African-American leaders started out supporting Burris, saying his scandal-free record outweighed political problems of the governor who named him. That support has wavered recently. Burris first told the committee that recommended Blagojevich's impeachment that he had no contact with the governor's aides and promised nothing in return for the appointment. Later he released affidavits admitting he spoke to Blagojevich advisers, including the former governor's brother, and said he tried to raise money for Blagojevich but failed.

Burris met privately Feb. 21 with pastors from Clergy Speaks Interdenominational, an umbrella group that includes hundreds of Chicago's black churches, to shore up support. While some pastors agree privately that Burris should resign, his overall support from black churches in Illinois remains strong.

Prominent clergy leaders including Stephen Thurston, president of the National Convention of America, the nation's largest African-American church group, laid hands on and prayed for Burris in the March 1 service.

"We know Senator Burris and his character and his integrity in the past has been impeccable," said Thurston, senior pastor at the host church. "And we simply believe him, when he says to us -- looking straight in our face -- that he has done nothing inappropriate. He may not have been as clear as he possibly could, and we understand that also. But we also don't believe he's been untruthful."

Burris, a longtime member at St. John Church-Baptist in Chicago, gave brief remarks, outlining accomplishments during his short time in the Senate. They include his co-sponsorship of a resolution recognizing the slaves who helped build the U.S. Capitol.

"Let me assure that I will continue to serve you with the fullest of my ability," he said. "I will serve you with honesty and integrity. That's all I know and that's what God gave me."

Burris is only the sixth black U.S. senator in history, and the third from Illinois. As calls for his resignation have increased, so have threats from the African-American community that politicians might suffer electoral repercussions unless they leave Burris alone.

African-American Chicago aldermen threatened Feb. 26 to withhold their support from any elected official who continued to call for Burris' resignation.

"The race card has been played here, and in fact you have 40 percent of the people who vote in a Democratic primary can be African-American in the state of Illinois," observed Charles Thomas, political reporter for WLS television ABC-7 during a report Feb. 27. "So all the politicians are on notice now that Roland Burris should be left alone or there could be political consequences."

State Rep. Monique Davis, a Democrat, said no matter what office blacks hold, they often face a double standard.

"We always have to jump through more loops than anyone else," she said in a Chicago Defender article dated Feb. 25. "The U.S. Senate, for whatever reason, wanted him to get Secretary of State Jesse White's signature on paperwork before they would seat him, but six states do not even have a Secretary of State and those senators were seated without a signature."

A number of newspaper editorials have called on Burris to resign. In an unscientific online poll by the Chicago Tribune, 94 percent of respondents said he should step down.

Burris, 71, has steadfastly refused to resign. Recently a campaign website for Burris went online with a form for online contributions.

The first African-American elected to statewide office in Illinois, Burris served as Illinois comptroller and attorney general before losing in four statewide primaries, most recently for governor against Blagojevich.

"I've dedicated my life to public service, and you all have caused me to have the opportunity to serve," Burris said at a previous rally at New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church in January. "And I had the opportunity when the Lord put his hands on the governor and said, 'This is the person that has to go to Washington.' And that appointment is legal. That is all there is."

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

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Justices decline to upend decision barring N.J. coach from prayers
By Robert Marus (425 words)

WASHINGTON (ABP) -- A New Jersey high-school coach will not be able to participate in his football team's prayers after the Supreme Court's March 2 refusal to review a lower court's decision.

Opponents of government-sanctioned school prayers praised the justices' refusal to hear an appeal of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling in Borden v. East Brunswick Township School District (No. 08-482).

"A coach's job is to teach kids how to play a sport, not promote religion," said the Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, in a press release. "This case is a firm reminder that parents, not school personnel, are the rightful decision-makers when it comes to children's religious upbringing."

Lynn's organization argued the case in the lower court on the school district's behalf.

The case began in 2005, when Marcus Borden, the coach, challenged a policy the school district enacted preventing him from participating in team prayers.

While Borden had a long history of leading the prayers or organizing them, officials in the increasingly diverse suburban district began receiving complaints from students and parents about the Christian nature of the prayers.

Borden said the policy -- which prevents him from any kind of participation in the prayers, including bowing his head silently while students lead the team -- violated his rights to free speech, due process and academic freedom.

Federal courts have interpreted the First Amendment to prevent public-school officials from leading or encouraging prayers with students. But they have also handed down decisions allowing prayers that are truly student-organized and student-led.

While a federal district court initially agreed with Borden, last year the 3rd Circuit overturned that decision. A three-judge panel, ruling unanimously, said the history behind Borden's participation in the prayers made it clear that continuing any kind of association between the coach and the prayers would risk violating the First Amendment's ban on government support for religion.

"Without Borden's twenty-three years of organizing, participating in, and leading prayer with his team, this conclusion would not be so clear as it presently is," that decision, written by Judge Michael Fisher, said. "We agree with Borden that bowing one's head and taking a knee can be signs of respect. Thus, if a football coach, who had never engaged in prayer with his team, were to bow his head and take a knee while his team engaged in a moment of reflection or prayer, we would likely reach a different conclusion because the same history and context of endorsing religion would not be present."

Robert Marus is managing editor and Washington bureau chief for Associated Baptist Press

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Former Baptist deacon charged with attempted robbery of S.C. bank
By Bob Allen (485 words)

TAYLORS, S.C. (ABP) -- An active member and former deacon at one of South Carolina's most historic Baptist churches faces charges of kidnapping and attempted robbery of a bank Feb. 26.

Bruce Lee Windsor, 43, was held on bond totaling $1.5 million on state charges of bank robbery, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of possessing a weapon during a violent offense. If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison for both the robbery and kidnapping charges and an additional five years on the weapons charge. He also could face federal charges.

Police say Windsor entered Greenville (S.C.) First Bank armed with a handgun, pointed it at employees and forced them into an office. There he handed them a note demanding money. He allegedly held two female employees at gunpoint for more than an hour before releasing them and surrendering to SWAT team members who met him at gunpoint inside the bank and ordered him to lie on the ground.

At his arraignment Feb. 27, Windsor's attorney reportedly said his client "has really been a model citizen, up until yesterday."

A woman identified in court only as Windsor's sister fought through sobs and tears to defend Windsor.

"He's a deacon of the church," she said. "He adores his kids."

"The only thing I can think is he must have just snapped under pressure," the woman said. "He is a person who doesn't even say cuss words."

Windsor works in mortgage real estate and owns a company called Lease to Home in nearby Greer, S.C. He reportedly told police in a statement that he was having financial problems and has an account at Greenville First Bank.

Ralph Carter, pastor of Brushy Creek Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C., said Windsor had been an active member of the congregation for at least a decade and had visited shut-ins on behalf of the church while serving as a deacon.

Carter reportedly told the judge Windsor's alleged behavior was "completely out of character." After the hearing he told the Greenville News that Windsor is "one of the best fathers I know anywhere."

The bank's chief executive, Art Seaver, told television station WYFF News 4 that he and a crowd of bank employees -- hunkered down on the second floor of the bank while the two hostages were being held downstairs -- could do nothing but pray.

Founded in 1794, Brushy Creek Baptist Church is called the "mother church" of Greenville-area Baptists. Though not the oldest church on record, Brushy Creek sponsored and supported many of the churches now comprising membership of Greenville Baptist Association. It is also the only Baptist church in the Greenville area to be known by the same name for more than 200 years.

The church is affiliated with both the South Carolina Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention. It was host church to the state convention's annual pastors' conference in 2006.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.