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A Feast with the Beast: Ahmadinejad Dines with Church Officials in New York

[Weekly Standard] Mark D. Tooley - American church officials hosted the visiting Iranian president on Sep. 28 in New York City after Ahmadinejad had earlier delivered his usual rant against Israel and the U.S. at the UN. Notably absent from the interfaith evening with Ahmadinejad was the National Council of Churches (NCC), whose chief, Michael Kinnamon instead released a statement to be read at an earlier anti-Ahmadinejad rally. "President Ahmadinejad's hateful language, denying the Holocaust and apparently calling for Israel to be 'wiped off the map,' must be persistently and forcefully denounced by all who value peace....If President Ahmadinejad has so little regard for the verifiable facts of history and the legitimacy of a state created by UN decision, it is hard to believe he means it when he insists that Iran's nuclear program is only intended for peaceful purposes." The Rev. John Thomas, president of the United Church of Christ (UCC), said in a statement: "I fear the occasion can and will be used by President Ahmadinejad to claim legitimacy and support for himself by an association with respected United States religious leaders....I respect the sponsoring organizations' intent for dialogue, but fear that the more likely outcome is sowing confusion and disappointment among our own members and, in particular, the American Jewish community." The writer directs the United Methodist committee at the Institute on Religion and Democracy.
2008-10-03 01:00:00
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