Posted: 8/31/05

Religious issues will color
vote on Iraqi constitution

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—Iraqis will vote Oct. 15 on a proposal for a permanent constitution that many Sunni Muslim leaders, other religious minorities and secularists find deeply troubling.

The drafting committee, made up mainly of Sunni and Shiite Muslim Arabs and Kurdish representatives, presented the document to the interim Iraqi National Assembly Aug. 28. The move came just a day after negotiations between Shiites and the Kurds and Sunnis who objected to certain parts of the document broke off.

By Aug. 29, news reports said, Sunni leaders in many parts of the nation were vowing to defeat the proposed charter at the polls. If two-thirds majorities in three of the nation’s 18 provinces vote to reject the proposal, then it will fail.

The presentation of the draft marks the end of months of contentious debates between members of the drafting committee over the roles of Islam and federalism in the nation’s governing document. Many Arab Shia and Kurds want strong guarantees of autonomy for the regions in which they are majorities. Many Sunnis—who are a minority but enjoyed much of the nation’s power under deposed dictator Saddam Hussein—fear that those guarantees will further marginalize them.

“We have reached a point where this constitution contains the seeds of the division of Iraq,” said Mahmoud al-Mashadani, a Sunni member of the drafting committee, according to the New York Times.

While human-rights violations were common in many areas under Saddam’s regime, Iraq also was essentially a secular government. Among the dictator’s inner circle were Christian Iraqis.

That could change. According to an English translation of the proposal, it cites Islam as a “basic source of legislation.” It also decrees that “no law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam.”

It also has earned the ire of human-rights groups for endangering women’s civil liberties. The document has provisions that would allow family-law cases to be settled in Islamic religious courts instead of civil courts. Women have fewer rights than men in traditional Islamic jurisprudence.

In July, members of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom objected to similar provisions in earlier drafts of the document. At the time, the bipartisan panel’s chairman, Michael Cromartie, said, “If these drafts become law, Iraq’s new democracy risks being crippled from the outset.”

But, speaking on several Sunday morning political talk shows Aug. 28, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said the final draft document will protect individual rights.

“Not everyone loves every article of this document. Not everyone is totally satisfied,” he said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “But there is enough in this constitution that meets the basic needs of all communities and for Iraq to move forward.”

He also said the document reflects “a new consensus between the universal principles of democracy and human rights, and Iraqi traditions in Islam.”

If the document does not pass on Oct. 15, then the task of drafting a permanent governing document falls to a new Iraqi National Assembly to be elected in December.

Posted: 8/31/05

Guidestone prescription drug benefits
will exceed Medicare minimums

By Curtis Sharp

GuideStone Financial Resources

DALLAS (BP)—The Medicare supplement plans available through GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention will provide prescription drug benefits that exceed the minimum standard set by Medicare.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2006, all individuals with Medicare will be eligible for a new Medicare-approved prescription drug benefit also known as Medicare Part D. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) created the voluntary program for seniors and disabled persons with Medicare.

A provision of the MMA permits Medicare recipients who currently receive healthcare and drug coverage through entities such as GuideStone Financial Resources to keep that coverage instead of enrolling in a separate Part D Plan. By continuing prescription drug coverage for individuals with Medicare, GuideStone qualifies to receive a subsidy that ultimately will be passed on to participants in the form of reduced monthly costs for the GuideStone senior plans.

“This is really a win-win situation for everyone involved,” said Doug Day, GuideStone’s executive officer of benefit services. “With the subsidy provided by Medicare and the cost savings GuideStone has realized as a result of our negotiated drug discounts with our pharmacy benefits manager, we are able to make our health plans much more affordable for our seniors. The rates for both the GuideStone Senior Plan and GuideStone Senior Plus Plan will be reduced for 2006.”

In addition to reducing rates, benefits will improve for both of GuideStone’s Medicare supplement plans. For the Senior Plan, the $5,000 cap for brand name drugs will be removed for 2006. There will be no limit on generic or brand name drug benefits.

For the Senior Plus Plan, Part B benefits will increase from $2,500 to $5,000. “Our Senior Plus Plan offers a great benefit for the price,” Day said. “With the increase in our Part B benefit, participants can now receive $25,000 in healthcare services and pay only the Medicare Part B deductible, $110 for 2005.”

Participants enrolled in one of GuideStone’s Medicare supplement plans don’t need to do anything to continue their healthcare and prescription drug coverage with GuideStone. As long as they do not enroll in a Medicare Part D plan, their current medical coverage at GuideStone can continue. However, it is important to understand that because GuideStone receives the subsidy for retirees enrolled in its Medicare supplement plans, GuideStone is unable to offer the plans to individuals enrolled in a Medicare Part D plan. Members who enroll in a Medicare Part D plan will lose GuideStone’s medical coverage and may not be able to return to the plan at a later date.

Insurance companies and other private companies will work with Medicare to offer the new Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. While all of the plans must provide at least a standard level of coverage set by Medicare, some will offer more coverage and additional drugs for a higher monthly premium. The plans may vary in what prescription drugs are covered, the cost and which pharmacies can be used.

“When companies are allowed to begin advertising their Part D plans on Oct. 1, seniors are going to be bombarded with messages,” Day said. “We want our participants to understand what they’re really comparing when they weigh our plans against the new Part D plans. While there will absolutely be plans out in the marketplace that are cheaper, you have to be sure you’re comparing apples to apples.”

“GuideStone’s plans offer benefits for a wide range of healthcare services in addition to a comprehensive prescription drug benefit,” Day explained. “Companies advertising $35 or $40 plans certainly won’t be offering the same level of coverage that GuideStone offers and likely won’t include coverage for physician or hospital expenses at all.”

More information about the new Medicare prescription drug plans is available online at www.medicare.gov or by phone at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048.

GuideStone participants who have questions about their Medicare supplement plan coverage can call GuideStone toll-free at 1-800-262-0511 between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Central Time. Specific rate and benefit information will be mailed to participants early in the fall.

COMPARISON OF MEDICARE PART D WITH
GUIDESTONE MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT PLANS

Medicare Part D Standard Prescription Drug Benefit participants, for 2006, will pay:

— The first $250 in out-of-pocket drug costs (deductible).

— 25% of the total drug costs between $250 and $2,250.

— 100% of the total drug costs between $2,251 and $5,100.

— The greater of either: $2 for generics and $5 for brand name drugs or 5 percent of the total cost of drugs $5,101 and up.

Participants must pay $3,600 out of pocket before the Part D Plan pays 95%.

GuideStone Senior Plus Plan participants, for 2006, will pay the lesser of the drug cost or:

— $10 for generic drugs

— $25 for name brand preferred drugs

— $40 for name brand non-preferred drugs

GuideStone Senior Plan participants will pay:

— The lesser of the drug cost or $15 for generic drugs

— 40% of total drug cost for all brand name drugs

GuideStone’s plans pay first dollar benefits on prescription drugs with no deductible. In addition to prescription drug coverage, both plans provide benefits for Medicare Part A hospitalization services. The Senior Plus Plan also provides benefits for Part B services such as doctor’s visits, medical services and supplies.

Posted: 8/31/05

Abstinence program loses federal funding

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—A federal agency has withdrawn funding from an abstinence program that is part of President Bush’s “faith-based initiative,” saying it does not have proper safeguards in place to avoid direct government support of religion.

In a letter received Aug. 22, officials from the Department of Health and Human Services informed leaders of the Silver Ring Thing program that it was stopping payment on a $75,000 grant.

The abstinence-only sex-ed program bills itself as an evangelistic ministry and gives teenagers silver rings inscribed with a Bible passage.

Harry Wilson, an official in the department’s family and youth services bureau, told the program’s leader that it appears the program funded with the HHS grant “includes both secular and religious components that are not adequately separated.”

In the letter, Wilson also asked Silver Ring Thing officials to submit a plan for remedying the problem to the bureau by Sept. 6.

The Massachusetts branch of the American Civil Liberties Union sued the federal Department of Health and Human Services May 16 to stop funding of the Silver Ring Thing.

ACLU lawyers said the program violates the Constitution’s ban on government establishment of religion.

According to court papers, the program has received more than $1 million in federal funding the past three years. Also known as the John Guest Evangelistic Team, the group’s newsletter said the program’s mission is to “call our world to Christ,” and one way to do that is “to saturate the United States with a generation of young people who have taken a vow of sexual abstinence until marriage and put on the silver ring. This mission can only be achieved by offering a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. …”

At the end of the group’s presentations, students are encouraged to wear a silver ring inscribed with “1 Thess. 4:3-4.” The passage, from the apostle Paul’s first letter to the ancient church at Thessalonica, encourages Christians to avoid sexual sin.

The suit also says participants in the ring programs are encouraged to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.

“Both because the federal funding of the Silver Ring Thing constitutes a direct government grant to a pervasively sectarian institution and because the federal dollars are demonstrably underwriting religious activities and religious content, the funding violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the lawsuit says.

Denny Pattyn, Silver Ring Thing’s founder and president, noted the letter said the suspension of funds was due to a lack of evidence of safeguards, rather than a clear violation of the First Amendment.

“We have separated the (program’s religious and secular) activities, and we have not misspent federal dollars,” Pattyn said, in a telephone interview from the group’s Moon Township, Pa., offices. “In the meantime, they’ve suspended the funding until we look at these points and clear up—and make it clearer that we do, in fact, separate.”

Posted: 8/31/05

Stem cell discovery could
make moral debate moot

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—A new discovery in embryonic stem-cell research may end up leap-frogging the political and moral debates over the procedure.

A team of researchers from Harvard University announced Aug. 21 they had converted adult human skin cells into what appear to be the kind of stem cells found in embryos. More detailed results of their research were published in the online version of the journal Science.

The discovery has the potential to defuse two significant debates over the research, which many biologists believe holds significant promise for treating several types of terminal diseases. If proved applicable to humans, the new process may avoid controversies over whether human embryos should be destroyed in the process of extracting their stem cells.

The new procedure also would negate questions over whether such embryos should be cloned using genetic material from the patient to be treated. Such “therapeutic cloning” to produce stem cells would reduce the risk of the patient's body rejecting the cells used for treatment.

Many religious conservatives and others have opposed government funding for embryonic stem-cell research because, until now, it has necessitated the destruction of the embryos used. They also have opposed therapeutic cloning because of the ethical risks posed by cloning embryos that, theoretically, have the potential to grow into cloned humans.

In 2001, President Bush limited federal funding for the research to several lines of stem cells already in existence. Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed a measure that would expand funding for research beyond that group of cells. The Senate is poised to take up that legislation after Congress returns from its summer recess in September. In July, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) angered many conservatives by announcing his support for the bill.

But in the latest research, scientists were able to reprogram skin cells from humans by using chemicals from already-existing embryonic stem cells from the lines Bush has approved. When treated with the chemicals, the skin cells adopted the characteristics of embryonic stem cells.

Stem cells are valued for research into treating diseases that destroy organs because of their ability to develop into almost any kind of tissue.

Several difficulties remain in applying the process to human patients, the researchers cautioned, because scientists still must devise a way to extract the extra genetic material from the cells created by the process.

However, other teams of scientists around the world have reported recent progress in ongoing studies on the subject.

Posted: 8/31/05

Pat Robertson retracts assassination remark

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—Televangelist Pat Robertson initially defended, then apologized, Aug. 24 for remarks he made on national television two days before, calling for the murder of Venezuela’s president.

The conservative Christian broadcaster and Christian Coalition founder’s retraction came after a day of withering criticism from political and religious leaders across the ideological spectrum.

Representatives of groups as diverse as the State Department, the Department of Defense, the National Council of Churches, the Venezuelan government and the president of the Southern Baptist Convention all condemned the comments Aug. 23.

During the Aug. 22 broadcast of his Christian Broadcast Network show “The 700 Club,” Robertson said the time had come for United States officials to consider murdering Hugo Chavez. The president—who has been twice elected by Venezuelans and is up for election again—has emerged as one of the Western Hemisphere’s most outspoken critics of President Bush’s foreign policy.

“You know, I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he (Chavez) thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it,” Robertson said. “It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability.”

He added: “I don’t think any oil shipments will stop.”

The South American nation is the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter, and provides a significant portion of U.S. oil imports. Chavez, a close ally of communist Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, has repeatedly accused Bush officials of plotting to overthrow him, and has implied that he is the target of assassination plots backed by U.S. operatives.

Surrogates for Chavez, who reportedly was traveling in Cuba Aug. 23, lambasted Robertson.

According to the New York Times, Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel called the comments “terrorist statements” and said the U.S. response to them would test American resolve to prosecute terrorism worldwide.

‘‘The ball is in the U.S. court, after this criminal statement by a citizen of that country,’’ Rangel said. ‘‘It’s huge hypocrisy to maintain this discourse against terrorism and at the same time, in the heart of that country, there are entirely terrorist statements like those.’’

Bernardo Álvarez, the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States, called for Bush to clearly denounce Robertson. In a Washington press conference, he said, “Mr. Robertson has been one of the president’s staunchest allies. His statement demands the strongest condemnation by the White House.”

During a televised Pentagon press conference Aug. 23, a reporter asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about Robertson’s recommendation. ‘‘Our department doesn’t do that kind of thing,” he said, adding that Robertson is a private citizen. “Private citizens say all kinds of things all the time.’’

The 75-year-old Robertson, a former Republican presidential candidate, has long been one of the leading figures in the Religious Right. He founded the Christian Coalition, and his television shows are seen on Christian and other national cable networks, such as ABC Family.

He has made headlines with other controversial statements in the past, including praying that seats on the Supreme Court become vacant, saying feminism inspires women to kill their children and become lesbians, and a warning to the city of Orlando, Fla., that God may be angered into sending a hurricane its way if city leaders didn’t rescind a policy of welcoming gay-pride celebrations.

A religious-liberty watchdog group that has been critical of Robertson and his efforts in the past called his latest comments “chilling.”

Barry Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said in a statement that it is “deplorable for a Christian preacher to go before his vast audience and urge the American government to murder a foreign leader…. This is just the kind of religious fanaticism that the world does not need more of.”

Americans United also called on Bush to make a clearer denunciation of Robertson’s remarks.

But even some representatives of groups allied with Robertson’s conservative social views distanced themselves from the assassination recommendation. Southern Baptist Convention

President Bobby Welch, in a statement released through the denomination, said the SBC “does not support or endorse public statements concerning assassinations of persons, even if they are despicable despots of foreign countries, and neither do I.”

He added, “The Christian’s responsibility is to pray for our leaders as well as the extremists around the world. Jesus Christ can save these people and change their lives.”

Gary Percesepe, director of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, offered a stronger condemnation.

“Pat Robertson is not only wrong politically, but he has revealed himself to be bankrupt spiritually,” he wrote, in an e-mail message. “His hateful words should be condemned by every Christian, particularly those who take seriously the message of the nonviolent gospel of peace, expressed so beautifully by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.”

Citing a term often used by Bush, he added: “A consistent ethic of life would condemn all forms of killing and embrace without contradiction respect for a ‘culture of life.’“

News agencies reported that Robertson was not doing interviews and his spokespeople were not commenting on the situation.

Posted: 8/30/05

BaptistWay Bible Series for Sept. 11

Perfection isn’t necessary for service

• Joshua 2:1-14; 6:22-25

By Ronnie Prevost

Logsdon Seminary, Abilene

We have all heard it before. And maybe—sometimes—we have even said it or something like it. “Better watch that one. Bad family. Bad seed. You know how it is: The apple never falls far from the tree.”

Rahab probably had heard similar or worse countless times in and around Jericho. She was … well … you know. One of them. A woman of ill repute, a prostitute. The Hebrew word used for her in this text is zanah. That word usually denoted a “common prostitute.”

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But the two Israelite spies sent from Joshua decided to stay at her house. She was not an Israelite. And she was of a questionable profession. Perhaps they (correctly) assumed no one in Jericho would notice anyone frequenting the house of a prostitute.

Rahab almost certainly knew the risk she was taking. In Joshua 2:8-13, we read that somehow Rahab was aware of the mighty things God had done in bringing Israel to the gates of Jericho. Whether from fear, respect or a new-found devotion, she knew this was a God worth serving. However, the reality of Rahab’s situation became stark when messengers from the king of Jericho and “pursuers” came seeking the Israelite spies she had hidden.

After the pursuers had departed, Rahab made a deal with the spies of Israel. She had “shown kindness” to them and, in return, asked for the same for her family. (The Hebrew used here is chesed, which can be translated “mercy,” “grace” or “loving kindness.”) So, after the fall of Jericho, she and her family were preserved.

In faith, Rahab played an important part in serving God by serving God’s people. The connection may not be clear, but she was a part of God’s victory at Jericho. And her faith was honored. It is interesting that Hebrews 11:30-31 refers to the fall of Jericho. And it mentions Rahab—not Joshua—as the great person of faith.

Rahab’s story does not end with Jericho in ruins. Matthew 1:5 lists Rahab as the mother of Boaz. That puts her smack dab in the middle of the ancestry of Jesus! She could not know that among her descendents would be the Son of God.

As he was growing up, Jesus had read and heard the story of Rahab. He probably knew this prostitute was a part of his lineage. That may have been one of the many reasons he had such a heart for prostitutes.

In Matthew 21:23 and the verses following, we read of a discussion Jesus had with the religious leaders of the Jews. Verse 31 records that Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” Jesus’ disciples were once questioned why Jesus associated with sinners. Jesus’ response was, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Matthew 9:12).

Jesus calls us to treat all sinners the same. In Matthew 7:1, Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” The truth is that all sinners are why God came as his Son. According to Luke 19:10, Jesus “came to seek and save what was lost.” Of course, according to Romans 3:23, that includes all of us. But we often forget.

In our (appropriate) desire to live holy, moral lives as followers of Jesus, we easily fall into the sin of consigning people to the trash heap of life. Especially others. The sad truth is that two of the great sins of Christians today are these: We don’t love sinners enough; and we don’t hate sin enough.

Oh, we love our kind of sinners. And we hate the sins of others. We don’t love enough those whose sins are not like ours—those whose sins we would never do. Nor do we hate the “little” sins we commit on such a regular basis that we have become numb to their reality.

Despite our imperfections and those of others, God loves us all. To God, all we sinners are of infinite worth. That is the great truth of John 3:16. Further, God can and still does use imperfect people to do his work. That included Rahab. That includes you and me.

James 2:25 cites Rahab as an example of faith in action. And in verse 26, James reminds us, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” Just as Rahab was used by God to protect his people, God calls us to reach out to and serve other sinners.

According to Jesus’ parable of separating the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-46), we serve by meeting diverse physical needs. The Great Commission we find in Matthew 28:19-20 calls us to serve by “making disciples.” That means we also are to serve by meeting spiritual needs.

As Rahab was imperfect, so are we. And as Rahab saw the fall of Jericho, we may see some immediate results from what we do. But also as Rahab, we may never know the ultimate results of our service and our influence. That is why our walk with and service for God is not only one of obedience; it is one of faith.

Discussion question

• How do/can our imperfections or those of others prevent us from serving them in God’s name?

• What can we do to break down those barriers to be more obedient servants?