Council of Churches writes Dole: Your ad is “appalling”
The N.C. Council of Churches stands by Kay Hagan, who is after all an elder of one of its biggest member churches. Its letter to Sen. Dole:
The North Carolina Council of Churches does not endorse or oppose candidates for political office, and neither you nor Sen. Hagan should construe this letter as taking a position about the outcome of your race. The Council has, however, called for greater civility in political discourse, and we cannot remain silent when you challenge the beliefs of faithful fellow Christians and suggest that a leader in one of the state’s oldest and largest denominations doesn’t believe in God.
Full text below.
October 30, 2008
Senator Elizabeth Dole
Dole 2008
PO Box 2629
Salisbury, NC 28145
Dear Senator Dole:
We are writing to deplore as strongly as possible your recent thirty-second television advertisement and the extended but similar piece from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, suggesting that your opponent is “godless” and concluding with the words “There is no God,” which the viewer could easily believe are being spoken by Sen. Hagan. As you no doubt know, Sen. Hagan is a faithful and active member and leader in the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro. To say or even to suggest that that outstanding congregation has chosen a lay leader who doesn’t believe in God is appalling and should be offensive to churches and church leaders throughout the state. And, as we learned from this morning’s News & Observer, other participants at the “godless” fundraiser in question included Sen. John Kerry, whose membership in the Roman Catholic Church is pretty well known, and Ambassador Swanee Hunt, who began her theological studies at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville and graduated from the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, a United Methodist seminary.
The North Carolina Council of Churches does not endorse or oppose candidates for political office, and neither you nor Sen. Hagan should construe this letter as taking a position about the outcome of your race. The Council has, however, called for greater civility in political discourse, and we cannot remain silent when you challenge the beliefs of faithful fellow Christians and suggest that a leader in one of the state’s oldest and largest denominations doesn’t believe in God.
Sincerely,
Rev. Sèkinah Hamlin
President, North Carolina Council of Churches
Rev. J. George Reed
Executive Director, North Carolina Council of Churches
cc: Sen. Kay Hagan
Heads of the Council’s thirty-three member bodies
Presbytery of Salem
First Presbyterian Church, Greensboro
Newspapers in Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, Charlotte, Asheville, Fayetteville, Greenville, and Wilmington
2 Comments
we agree and will post this on our blog
— Civility NOW 31 October 2008
MY RESPONSE TO KAY’s DEFENSE (Reply from her Web site follows):
Thanks for the talking points Kay team, but, seriously, give me a break… Tell Kay to stop meeting with and accepting money from people affiliated with it. (I noticed how you parsed the words about the money taking.) Supposedly this Godless group goes against everything she believes in? The Presbyterian Church USA is on par with the Unitarian church (to quote Barrack’s stat) about “90%” of the time. So it’s meaningless to say she teaches Sunday school because she’s likely teaching some watered down version of mother earth knows best and other such spiritual “enlightenment.” I hope all the bitter clingers come out in force to defeat her joke of a candidacy. Now we know why the liberal left wants her in power and is sparing no expense. Good for Libby defending herself against your lying attacks! Spare us the “outrage” over dirty politics!!!
KAY’s BABBLE:
Dear Voter,
Kay is not affiliated with that organization and has taken no money from it. Kay is an elder at the First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, where she attends with her family and has taught Sunday school. Kay does not support the agenda of the Godless Americans PAC – she does not want to take away Christmas, she does not want to take Under God out of the Pledge, nor does she want to take “in God we Trust” off money. We are very sorry that Elizabeth Dole has chosen to take this approach - we are proud of the network of grassroots support Kay has throughout the state and we’re confident that voters will see through Dole’s methods and elect Kay Hagan as their next U.S. Senator.
— BitterClinger 1 November 2008