Florida Megachurch Pastor and Obama Spiritual Advisor Joel Hunter was recently spotted in an uncharacteristic tabbed clergy collar. The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) official is a non-denominational Evangelical, but you wouldn’t know it from conference photos Hunter appeared in alongside six other American clergy and an assortment of Iranian clerics.
The dressy clerics recently discussed religious tolerance with officials in Iran during a week-long gathering. Iran is usually near the bottom of the list of countries tolerant toward religious minorities, with religious freedom watchdog Open Doors placing the Islamic Republic 9th on the list of worst offenders.
Hunter was joined by Texas Pastor Bob Roberts of the non-denominational NorthWood Church, also sporting a clergy shirt and collar. The pair was outdone by American Baptist Churches U.S.A. President A. Roy Medley, passing over academic robes of more formal Baptist clergy and apparently now moonlighting as an Anglican bishop, complete with pectoral cross and enough purple to rival Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori in full liturgical regalia. Medley, who recently became Chair of the National Council of Churches Governing Board, was possibly steered towards the robes by an ecumenical colleague.
No explanation was given for clerical garb on men who usually appear in a jacket and tie, but presumably they were offered guidance on wearing recognizable clergy garb by conference organizers.
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News site Payvand.com reports Hunter was invited by Iranian religious leaders and scholars to attend the May 25 Tehran conference, titled “World Free of Violence and Extremism from the Perspective of Abrahamic Religions.”
“We found a genuine openness to American ideas and approaches, and a common desire to build a faith-based path to peace,” Roberts blogged about the trip. The Texas pastor wrote that he was “amazed” at what he saw, and that his Iranian hosts “hate terrorism, Al-Qaeda, Taliban, and they do not like being classified with religious extremist like that.”
Inquiring as to why Iranians work with Hezbollah and Hamas, Roberts seemed less convinced at the justification given that it was to secure a Palestinian homeland, characterizing the topic of Israel as making some “uncomfortable.”
Roberts’ chronicle of the trip soon returned to praise, with the pastor gushing about Iranian infrastructure, construction and stores, exclaiming “Their government functions as well as their society and cities.”
Citing an unnamed “significant American dealing in security” that “there are two democracies in the Middle-East – one is Israel and the other is Iran,” Roberts pointed to elections and multiple centers of power, assessing that “they make it work.” Advance vetting and disqualification of candidates by Iran’s religious authorities was not mentioned.
“They are proud of their democratic processes,” Roberts reported, with “everyday Iranians” dismissing the election of former president and hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (known for his incendiary rhetoric and regular threats to destroy Israel) as comparable to the anti-taxation Tea Party movement in the United States.
Over at the Commentary blog, Michael Rubin responds to the trip, observing that Iran uses events such as these to subvert religious freedom by entertaining “people-to-people dialogue” for photo-ops all while simultaneously cracking down on vulnerable populations such as Baha’is and Jews. Rubin finds the participants “oblivious to both history and reality” and challenges Hunter’s comment “We didn’t go over there to confront people on certain issues,” when asked about Iranian state pressure on religious minorities.
Certainly, Evangelical Christians like imprisoned pastor Saeed Abedini could testify that all is not well, despite Roberts’ recent tweet quoting an Ayatollah that “If people become Christians they should go to one of the 400 recognized churches of Iran.”
Perhaps Roberts, Hunter and Medley could visit Abedini and other imprisoned religious minorities on an upcoming visit to Iran. Abedini may not have a collar or robes, but with Iranian authorities recently threatening to extend his prison sentence because he leads fellow prisoners to faith in Christ, Abedini would seem to have pastoral credentials matching any visiting U.S. clergy.
“If people become Christians they should go to one of the 400 recognized churches of Iran.” An Ayatollah http://t.co/d8BvAYInRi
— Bob Roberts Jr. (@bobrobertsjr) June 4, 2014
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