Friday, October 31, 2008
politics / Raleigh / North Carolina Council of Churches writes Dole: Your ad is "appalling"
Posted by Bob Geary @rjgeary on Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 10:03 AM
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
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