January 6, 1999
Reaction to impeachment
mixed in religious community
___WASHINGTON (BP)--While the actions that led to impeachment of President Bill Clinton are generally agreed to be moral in nature, American religious leaders have not found consensus on whether impeachment was the proper course for the House of Representatives.
___Resignation would be a mistake, said Philip Wogaman, pastor of Foundry United Metho-dist Church in Washington, whereClinton attends with his wife, Hillary. The president retains his membership in Im-manuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark.
PROTESTERS rally outside the U.S. Capitol during a protest organized by Jesse Jackson against the House impeachment proceedings against President Clinton Dec. 17. (RNS/REUTERS)
___"I think for him to leave office at this point would be the equivalent of having been forced out, and I think that would be a tragedy for the nation," Wogaman said. "It would probably lead to a generation of deepened polarization in our society, and it would definitely establish a precedent making impeachment and removal from office a much more available weapon in political conflict."
___While Wogaman said he does not condone the president's behavior, impeachment and removal from office are not "appropriate forms of punishment." Wogaman said he favors censure by the Senate.
___Robert Schuller, a well-known religious figure who has counseled Clinton in the past, said after the impeachment vote it might be time for the president to resign.
___In a brief opinion piece in the Dec. 21 issue of the Wall Street Journal, Schuller said he hoped a Senate trial could be avoided. If not, the founding pastor of California's Crystal Cathedral wrote to the president: "I ask that you look within your conscience and summon the will and strength to end this agony. By stepping aside, you can spare our nation weeks, perhaps months, of divisive debate and repulsive testimony. Your action can help restore public confidence in the moral fabric that sustains our form of government and the moral standards we have a right to demand in our leaders."
___The Senate is expected to begin a trial shortly after it convenes Jan. 6, but both Demo-crats and Republicans have expressed a desire for a speedy resolution, according to news reports.
___Others campaigned for or against impeachment in the days leading to the House votes. Jerry Falwell urged recipients of his special edition of the Falwell Fax Dec. 11 to call undecided House members and request they vote for impeachment. Falwell's weekly report goes to more than 160,000 "evangelical pastors," according to the fax.
___The Christian Coalition delivered to Capitol Hill petitions with more than 250,000 signatures calling for the president's impeachment.
___The civil liberties organization People for the American Way, meanwhile, compiled more than 300,000 names on petitions opposing impeachment.
___On the day before the House began debating impeachment, prayer vigils were held on opposite sides of the Capitol building.
___The one held on the west side of the Capitol was sponsored by Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition and attracted an estimated 2,000 or more participants. It was unabashedly an anti-impeachment rally, with speakers often attacking Republicans favoring impeachment.
___On the east side of the Capitol, 50 to 100 people came at different times to pray at a vigil sponsored by the Christian Defense Coalition, estimated the organization's founder, Pat Mahoney. The meeting was non-partisan, and participants prayed for direction for the House members, Mahoney said.
___Even before the House voted in early October for an impeachment inquiry, more than 30 religious leaders, mostly Christian, Jewish and Muslim, released a statement opposing impeachment. The signers, many who have supported the Clinton administration's policies, said the president's "personal transgressions" did not rise to the level of impeachment and Congress should deal instead with such issues as failing public schools, crime, health care and campaign financing.
___The signers included James Dunn, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs; Daniel Weiss, general secretary of the Amer-ican Baptist Churches USA; Mackey Daniels, president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention; and Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary of the National Council of Churches.
___Rex Horne, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, could not be reached for comment. Horne has declined most requests for interviews about the president in recent months.
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