328 Clergywomen Criticize Danforth Over a Kavanaugh Comment

From The New York Times-

To the Editor:

Re “Echoes of Anita Hill, but in a Different Era for Women” (front page, Sept. 18):

We, clergywomen in the Episcopal Church, object to the comments by John C. Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri and a priest in the Episcopal Church, regarding the accusation of sexual assault made by Christine Blasey Ford against Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.

In your article, Mr. Danforth said he feels “terribly sorry for Kavanaugh” and considers Dr. Blasey’s allegations against Judge Kavanaugh to be a tragic repeat of the damage to Justice Clarence Thomas’s reputation after Anita Hill’s allegations of sexual harassment against Mr. Thomas.

No one, not least a priest of the church, should publicly shame, blame or question the motives of women who step forward to report instances of sexual abuse; Mr. Danforth should instead be calling for an in-depth examination of Dr. Blasey’s allegations. 

More here-

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/25/opinion/letters/danforth-kavanaugh.html

Danforth deservingly recognized with Churchill award

From Missouri-

Congratulations to John Danforth, a former Missouri attorney general, U.S. twice-elected senator and U.N. ambassador, who is the latest recipient of the Winston Churchill Leadership Medal. The award comes from the National Churchill Museum at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, from which Churchill delivered his "Iron Curtain" speech in 1946.

According to the National Churchill Museum website, the Churchill award, "its highest honor," is bestowed upon "individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership."

The website highlights Danforth's work toward peace. President Bush selected him to be a special envoy for peace in Sudan in 2001. His assistance helped usher in peace there in 2005, ending the 20-year civil war.

Perhaps not as well known is Danforth's role as an ordained Episcopal priest.

More here-

http://www.semissourian.com/story/2415678.html

also here-

http://www.missourinet.com/2017/05/30/former-missouri-senator-jack-danforth-to-receive-churchill-leadership-medal/

John Danforth calls Episcopal Church to healing ministry for America

From ENS-

Calling for “an expansive ministry to America,” former Missouri Republican Sen. John Danforth called on the Episcopal Church Sept. 16 to combine its pastoral and prophetic voices into “a healing ministry to a nation that needs healing.”

Danforth, an Episcopal priest, lawyer and author who served in the U.S. Senate from 1976-1995, told the House of Bishops that “this longtime politician knows that America needs us; this devoted Episcopalian believes that Jesus calls us” to act boldly in the current political and civic climate.

Episcopalians “should be evangelists to all Americans, especially to the most idealistic Americans, to young people who want to change the world. We should be the voices that call them to do just that,” he said.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2016/09/16/john-danforth-calls-episcopal-church-to-healing-ministry-for-america/

New Center to Focus on Religion and Politics

From The New York Times

Washington University in St. Louis will open a new academic center in January that will focus on the intersection of religion and politics and will be named for a former Missouri senator, John C. Danforth.

The John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics will eventually have five full-time faculty members, offer an undergraduate minor and sponsor conferences and lectures, Mr. Danforth, a former three-term Republican senator, said in an interview.

An ordained Episcopal priest and author of a book titled “Faith and Politics,” Mr. Danforth said the center would strive to be ideologically neutral and spark open-minded discussion on religion and politics. “I think all of us benefit from thinking about these issues more deeply, in a more scholarly way that is respectful to all points of view,” he said.

But Mr. Danforth, who also served as a special envoy to Sudan during former President George W. Bush’s administration, also acknowledged that the type of topics the center is likely to take up can be controversial and can spark back-and-forths that include what he called the “I’m right, you’re wrong, God’s on my side” point of view.

“My hope is to build into the D.N.A. of the center that this is going to be a place of coming together,” Mr. Danforth said, adding that “this is not going to be a place with a particular political ax to grind.”

The St. Louis-based Danforth Foundation — a charitable foundation started by William H. Danforth, the founder of Ralston Purina and the former senator’s grandfather — is kicking in a $30 million endowment gift to help the center get started.

More here-

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/new-center-on-religion-and-politics-to-be-named-for-former-mo-senator/