A group of 95 of America's leading religious scholars has issued a scathing condemnation of President Clinton over his "ill use of women" and "abuse of power".
The statement, a Declaration Concerning Religion, Ethics, and the Crisis in the Clinton Presidency, was published in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, and comes at a time when the President appeared to be doing well in his rehabilitation campaign. Signed by scholars from prestigious universities such as Duke, George Washington, Chicago and Smith, and top theology colleges such as Princeton and Boston, it raises ethical questions often skated over in the media coverage.
It begins by censuring the President for his much-publicised appearance at a prayer breakfast in September when he tearfully told an audience he regretted his sexual affair with Ms Monica Lewinsky. The theologians denounce this as "misuse of religion", a "distortion" of religious integrity.
The President had "betrayed" children and students who had set their hopes in him. Although the scholars admit to a division on whether to impeach, they conclude that "extended constitutional, ethical and religious" discussion was needed before any decision.