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WHAT THEY WERE SAYING 10 YEARS AGO | ECHOES FROM A DECADE INDEX
Echoes from the 1980's
"It was widely held that Christians in North Korea had either been totally eliminated
or driven deep underground after the communist regime came to power. Only in very recent
times have foreign church representatives had opportunities to visit North Korea,
and to discover that worshipping communities continue to exist there."
Dwain Epps, assistant general secretary for international affairs shortly before
the first visit to the US in more than 50 years from representatives of the
Christian community of North Korea.
"We are not tampering with the gender of the deity. God remains 'Our Father,' and
Jesus Christ is still the Son of God."
Bruce Metzger, chair of the committee of scholars that translated the New Revised
Standard Bible, speaking to the Governing Board on the occasion that it authorized
and endorsed the NRSV.
"We wholeheartedly affirm the student demonstrations in Beijing, Shanghai and other
cities in recent days. The hunger strikes are a patriotic activity...I wish to
add that I am glad that Christians are making their presence felt in these
demonstrations."
Bishop K. H. Ting, leader of the Chinese Protestant church, in a statement released
during the protests.
"We are trying to break free from the old practice that the North gives and the
South receives. The kingdom of God is one. All of us have something to give and
something to receive."
Oscar Bolioli, director of the Latin American and Caribbean program, at the start of
a U.S. women's delegation visit to build bridges to the region.
"In all of our conversations with Muslims in Los Angeles, the topic almost always
came around to the book. They weren't talking about violence or banning the book,
rather they were calling for societal discipline showing proper respect for the
holiest things of various faiths."
Marston Speight, director of Christian-Muslim relations, during the controversy over
author Salman Rushdies's The Satanic Verses.
"Every time we South Africans come to this country, we are told how abhorrent
apartheid is. We know apartheid is abhorrent¾ we are dying under that system. Walk
the path of peace with us. One way is to say to this [US] government to apply clear,
unequivocal, effective sanctions against South Africa."
South African church leader Allan Boesak, speaking in Washington, DC, at the
culmination of the anti-apartheid campaign "From Pentecost to Soweto."
"The percentage of women ordained to the full ministry in those denominations ordaining
women in the United States has increased from an estimated 4 percent in 1977 to
7.9 percent in 1986."
Reported in the 1989 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.
"Bail concerns the innocent [-until-proven-guilty]. We have taken that principle of
justice and we have held it high for the world to emulate and yet we ignore it for the
poor."
Wade E. Byrd, an attorney for a beneficiary of the Ecumenical Minority Bail Bond Fund,
speaking on the 15th anniversary of the fund.
"It is clear there is a direct correlation between what workers are paid, and the
quality of (child day) care. Child care providers in the New York City area earn
less than zoo keepers and parking attendants."
Karen Collins, director of the Child Advocacy Office in announcing publication of
a booklet on wages and benefits in church child care.
"It was shocking to see people who had committed no crime, dressed like prisoners
and confined in a facility which is essentially a prison."
A member of an interfaith delegation, visiting the Port Isabel (Texas) Immigration
and Naturalization facility where many Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Honduran and other
Central American refugees were being detained.
"The rationale you have offered the nation this morning for having ordered this
invasion is insufficient, in our opinion, to justify this act of war against the
Republic of Panama."
General Secretary James Hamilton in a letter to President Bush.
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