Century marks

Christian Century, July 31, 2002

BEDPANS AND PRAYER: Nearly a century ago, Walter Rauschenbusch penned a prayer for doctors and nurses, thanking God for "their gentleness and patience, for their knowledge and skill." He noted that "some are now tracking the great slayers of mankind by the white light of science," yet he also prayed that people wouldn't be doomed to untimely deaths on account of poverty and deprivation. He conveyed the hope that people in the medical profession would see their mission as a divine one, and that they would not "become hirelings who serve only for money," but serve the children of the poor as well as the rich. Much has changed in the medical profession since Rauschenbusch's prayer, according to ethicist Allen Verhey. For instance, "the white light of science" has made incredible advances while creating moral dilemmas: "Now that we can keep the dying alive, must we?" asks Verhey. "Now that we can diagnose a fetus with Down's Syndrome and abort it, may we?" But some things haven't changed, such as inadequate medical care for the poor. And the need for prayer persists, not prayer as an alternative or complementary healing technique, but prayer as Rauschenbusch modeled it: "simple attentiveness to God." "It might be observed, "says Verhey, "that prayer remains a commonplace in hospitals--as commonplace, I dare say, as bedpans. In spite of that, contemporary medical ethics has paid little attention to prayer" (in Remembering Jesus: Christian Community, Scripture and the Moral Life, Eerdmans).

LABELS: It's rare that a profound theologian lands a leadership post in the church, but that's happened with the appointment of Rowan Williams as archbishop of Canterbury. As is the case with most significant thinkers, his views defy easy categorization. That did not deter the New York Times from calling him a "radical" in a headline, over a story highlighting Williams's criticism of the U.S. war on terrorism and his sympathetic comments on gays in the church. A recent interview with Williams in these pages (April 24-May 1) showed that he has an unusually deep knowledge of the Church Fathers and Eastern Orthodoxy, which he brings to the challenges of 21st-century theology, and that he is an eloquent expositor of Christianity's central claims. No radical there. Indeed, in almost all respects Williams's thought reflects a deeply traditionalist, orthodox theology. But the media demand a label. And so too do professional church infighters like Diane Knippers of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, who warned that on homosexuality and others issues Williams is out of step with "mainstream" Anglicanism. One might hope that the IRD would be delighted with the appointment of a rigorous thinker committed to the theological heritage of the church, and not be quite so eager to score points on the homosexuality issue.

NUKE THE NUKES: If you think there's little danger of a nuclear catastrophe since the close of the cold war, a newly formed group would like you to think again. In June it issued "An Urgent Call" to "End the Nuclear Danger." The proclamation notes that "the great powers have refused to give up nuclear arms, other countries are producing them, and terrorists are trying to acquire them." The statement calls on the U.S. and other nuclear powers to: "Renounce the first use of nuclear weapons. Permanently end the development, testing and production of nuclear warheads. Seek agreement with Russia on the mutual and verified destruction of nuclear weapons withdrawn under treaties.... Strengthen nonproliferation efforts.... Take nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert in concert with the other nuclear powers ... in order to reduce the risk of accidental or unauthorized use. Initiate talks on further nuclear cuts, beginning with U.S. and Russian reductions to 1,000 warheads each." The statement and a list of signatories, including Protestant leaders Joan Brown Campbell, William Sloane Coffin and Jim Wallis, are available at www.UrgentCall.org.

DIVINE DIALING: "Where do Worldcom execs go to church?" asks Robert Parnham of the Baptist Center for Ethics. As it turns out, Bernie Ebbers, Worldcom's founder and former CEO, is an active member of Easthaven Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Mississippi. According to a recent story in the Wall Street Journal, Ebbers told his congregation: "I just want you to know you aren't going to church with a crook," to which the congregation responded with a standing ovation. Maybe his fund raising had something to do with their affection for him: Ebbers chaired their capital campaign with the goal of raising $80 million in five years; after just one year the church had raised $58 million, so the ante was upped to $100 million. Crook or not, Ebbers's former company, which has now declared bankruptcy, has had accounting irregularities amounting to "$3.85 billion, claiming a profit when the company was really losing hundreds of millions of dollars and also providing sweetheart deals for Ebbers, such as over $400 million in loans at a most favorable 2.15 percent interest rate." Says Congressman Billy Tauzin (R., La.): "This was a pure case of theft, of inside stealing, again, from their own investors." Worldcom stock plummeted from a high of $64.50 to as Low as a nickel, and up to 17,000 employees will likely lose their jobs (EthicsDaily.com, July 19).