Dr. Snyder Receives National Attention
By Jennifer Bare
Printed from The Papyrus, the Greenville College student newspaper, with permission

Over the past few months, Dr. Bob Snyder has been recognized for his opinion on the Jubilee 2000 Project. Starting with a publication in The Christian Century, Snyder has moved on to even being interviewed for T.V.

Dr. Snyder's beginning in the debate of Jubilee 2000 started when he stumbled upon the makings of the project several months ago. With the help of former U.S. Senator, Paul Simon, and with a great deal of editing help from his wife, Snyder had his first article published in the June 30-July 7, 1999 edition of The Christian Century.

Published Work Garners Media
His work was quickly recognized and quoted by the Dallas Morning News and New York News Day. Then, as Snyder mentioned, "things began heating up."

New Odyssey, a national cable station owned by several Christian companies, asked Snyder to interview online with Carol Collins, one of the leaders of Jubilee 2000 program. And finally in the past couple weeks, he was invited to an online discussion and a live taping for Newsworld in Canada.

What is Jubilee 2000?
But what is Jubilee 2000? As cleverly put on the website of Newsworld, the Canadian version of CNN, "It's a bit of a Robin Hood story. Take from he rich and give to the poor." However, the problem with such a scheme is exactly what Snyder concentrated on in his article in The Christian Century.

The dilemma that comes from this idea is that forgiving debts of poor countries will not extinguish their struggles. Because of bad leaders, relieving debts for all countries will not help the ones that need it the most.

As Snyder mentioned in his article, "Anyone who has lived among the people of countries with corrupt regimes has seen what happens when money comes in from the outside."

Dr. Snyder Responds to Jubilee 2000
Dr. Snyder does not believe that relieving countries of their debts to other countries is wrong, just improbable. He suggests alternate methods to the program. For instance, instead of writing off the debts, offer financial aid to organizations comprised of leaders of each country to distribute the money to those countries that will responsibly handle it for the assistance of the poor.

"I'm not disagreeing with the idea of Jubilee 2000, I just feel that a note of caution should be played by forgiving debts." Snyder's objective through all of this discussion over a quickly rising debate is to educate people on both sides of the issue.

While many political and religious leaders, such as President Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II, favor this event, Snyder believes that they are not noticing the downsides to the matter. Dr. Snyder's many years as a missionary living in Africa has opened his eyes to the possible consequences.

So what is next on his "celebrity schedule?" "Nothing yet," he gladly says. But if he is called upon for further study, he will keep it under consideration.

Additional information on Dr. Snyder and Third World Debt
A Real Video (requiring Real Player free software) presentation is available on this site.

Last updated: January 21, 2000