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Archives: February 2003 |
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2/27/03 |
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"Mr. Rogers" dies at age 74
The Rev. Fred Rogers -- who taught generations of children
the quintessentially Christian but profoundly universal message "Love
yourself, love others" on his long-running television program "Mr. Rogers'
Neighborhood" -- died Feb. 27 at the age of 74 of stomach cancer.
Presbyterian News Service remembers him with an interview of him by
Presbyterians Today editor Eva Stimson, in the fall of 1997.
You may recall that Fred Rogers received the Peacemaker
Award from the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship a few years ago. |
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Earth Day Sunday resources are
available from PC(USA).
Observance will be April
27 |
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Theological task force meets again
Presbyterian News Service offers two reports on the
recent meeting of the Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the
Church.
For the first time
they have discussed homosexuality. [Some observers have noted
significant misunderstandings of homosexual orientation and behavior in
the report of that discussion.]
They went on to discuss their differing views of
Scripture and the confessions as
foundations for belief and behavior. |
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Presbyterian returning to El Salvador to
observe elections What
with wars and budget crises and all the rest, we easily forget countries
in which the United States was deeply (and many would say illegally)
involved just a few years ago. Julia Jones, who has served the PC(USA) in
many ways over the past few years, sends a report on her plans to serve as
an observer in the coming election in El Salvador.
Her preliminary report offers a picture
of the current situation there, and we will post her later reports from on
the spot. |
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Washington Office joins
others calling for opposition to
"Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act," H.R. 235 |
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2/25/03 |
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The
threat of war against Iraq |
You can still join the
Virtual March on Washington
Wednesday, February 26th, is the date for a mammoth
Virtual March on Washington. The project's aim is that on February
26th, every Senate office will receive a call EVERY MINUTE from a
constituent, as they receive a simultaneous crush of faxes and
email.
So far, over 85,000 people have signed up to be a
part of Wednesday's march - well over the goal of an average of one
call per minute per Senate office.
If you haven't registered yourself, just go to:
http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/
The sponsors of this effort are especially seeking
people who will make calls in the less populous states in the
nation:
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas,
Kentucky, Nebraska, Montana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota,
Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia,
Wyoming.
If you live in one of these states, be sure to sign up. Then call
friends and ask them to register and make the calls on February
26th.
You can see the TV commercial promoting the march, featuring Martin
Sheen, on the registration page:
http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/ |
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Signs of our times
Pastor and author Duke Robinson has
shared a list of signs he has seen at recent anti-war demonstrations
in San Francisco. He follows that with encouragement for
people to join in the "Virtual
March on Washington." |
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The rise of a "new
American empire"
Of Gods and
Mortals and Empire
William Rivers Pitt has recently reminded us that
the real issue in American's planned war on Iraq is not terrorism.
It's not even oil. It is the assertion of America power over the
rest of the world. It is, in short, Empire.
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From Jerusalem, a call for
peace
The Sebeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center,
Jerusalem, has issued a strong call on Pres. Bush and Prime Minister
Blair, "who claim to be Christians," to live in accord with the
Biblical cal to seek peace. |
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Presbyterian assistance is being
directed toward Iraqi children
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
has provided $30,000 in support of the "All Our Children Campaign"
recently endorsed by Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter. |
American church leaders take
their message of peace to Downing Street
PC(USA)'s Kirkpatrick among those talking to British Prime Minister
BlairWe have previously
posted a report of this
important meeting from Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners.
Here is another view from our sister churches in Britain and
Ireland. |
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| Overture seeks
staffing for glbt people in our
churches The Presbytery of Great Atlanta
has approved an overture calling on the General Assembly to establish some
form of staffing or office to focus on the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender persons in the PC(USA). |
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Is Earth
Day Worth It?
Peter Sawtell, Executive Director of
Eco-Justice Ministries, notes that Earth Day this year falls on April 22,
just two days after Easter - (or just before Orthodox Easter on April 27.
But it's still an important observance, he says -- and points to resources
for this year's emphasis on WATER. |
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2/23/03 |
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More Light Presbyterians adopt
"A Declaration of Faith
and Call to Action," as a clear statement of
their strategic direction. The opening lines tell the story: "Justice
knows no season. Justice cannot wait. An unjust standard is no standard at
all." |
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MLP posts list of welcoming churches
More light Presbyterians has launched a new web resource
to help people seeking congregations that are offer a genuine welcome to
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons and their families. The
information bank, available via the web at
http://www.mlp.org/findmap.html,
provides church names, addresses and phone numbers, links to web sites,
and information about specific actions each church has taken to
demonstrate its welcome.
The listing includes congregations that are officially
"More Light," as well as "hundreds of other congregations that have
offered other ways of striving to create a more welcoming atmosphere
within their churches." This includes churches that have affirmed Covenant
Network's "A Call to Covenant Community" and those that support regional
evangelists for That All May Freely Serve. |
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2/22/03 |
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The
threat of war against Iraq |
| Marilyn White of the Presbyterian
Peace Fellowship has gathered
more reports from around
the country by people who took part in Feb. 15th marches for peace.
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What do
millions of protesters for peace look like?
Here's a delightful website that simply answers that question with
photos from demonstrations around the world - from Seoul, Dunedin
(New Zealand), London and Madrid and Berlin and Paris and New York.
And yes, even Santa Fe and Minneapolis! It's all on one long page,
which will take a while to download, but take a little walk and come
back to enjoy it.
And another view:
The U.S. Green
Party has put together a Flash Film of visions of peaceful
protest from around the world on February 15. This takes even longer
to download, but you get a nice sound track, and fancier
presentation. And a little moralizing at the end about the
administration's little links to the oil industry, etc. |
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Church leaders meet with
Prime Minister Tony Blair
A number of American and other
church leaders (including PC(USA) Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick)
met last Tuesday by Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain. Jim
Wallis of Sojourners reports on their conversation, notable for the
reasons given by the group for urging caution in the rush to war.
And of course the meeting is notable because it happened, in
contrast to the unwillingness of the President of the United States
to meet with a similar group. |
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Another way to speak to Washington:
a "virtual march"
The Win Without War
coalition is encouraging people to send a steady stream of phone
calls, e-mails and faxes to all U.S. Senators on February 26th,
to make clear the breadth and depth of opposition to the war.
MoveOn.org provides a more complete
account of the project, and where you can sign up for the time to
make your calls. |
| Sojourners is providing materials
for
a national teach-in on the war with Iraq --
February 24-28 |
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Witherspoon
announces plans for our GA events |
Life in the Spirit: Toward a
Theology of Globalization
OR ... for the Spanish version go to
La Vida en el
Espíritu - Hacia una Teología de la Globalización
The Witherspoon Society is committed to a multicultural
church in our increasingly diverse society, but we don't do much to live
out that commitment. Here's one very modest step in that direction: a
theological exploration of a very important topic, which was written
originally in Spanish and then translated by the author into English. |
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2/18/03 |
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Saddam enrages Bush with full compliance
"Fake news," but funny.
Having trouble making sense of our strange and anxious world?
Think cows!
From somewhere on the Web comes this delightful
analysis of various geo-political systems as different ways of dealing
with a pair of cows. |
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2/17/03 |
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2/15/03 |
Rejoice!
Elder Joe Sayre, one of the co-authors of the
Santa Fe resolution
posted yesterday, has sent a comment
in response to
"reporting" by the Layman Online. The
Santa Fe resolution "rejoices" in the
overture by the Presbytery of
Des Moines that would remove G-6.0106(b) from the Book of Order. |
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2/14/03 |
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The
threat of war against Iraq |
| In harmony with the
declared position of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and with our
understanding of the Gospel ethic, we urge:
Support the Feb 15-16
Demonstrations in New York, San Francisco and around the
world
Go. This may be the last chance to
make our views known about the war and it may even prevent it. If
war does start, it is critical that concerned patriotic citizens be
allowed to exercise their democratic rights and not be silenced.
Whether you go or not, contact your acquaintances, particularly
those close to New York and San Francisco and urge them to go.
Consult
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/ for information about this
weekend's worldwide demonstrations and for ideas on other actions
you can take.
Protect our democracy: war
with Iraq will only endanger it.
New York Times columnist
Tom Friedman predicted that if there is one more terror attack in
the US on the scale of the 9-11 it could be the end of the United
States as an "open" society. The demand to "do something" will be
unstoppable. A frightening solution to do just that has been
developed by the US Department of Justice, leaked and disclosed on
Bill Moyers' TV show, aired on February 8th.
http://www.pbs.org/now/
This draft legislation, dubbed
Patriot II, dismantles all the safeguards of a liberal democracy,
introducing secret arrest, deportation of legal
aliens, and revocation of U.S citizenship. This might
initially apply to Arab-Americans and Muslims but could be easily
extended to all Americans who disagree with the government's
policies.
The stakes are very high. If we
attack Iraq, we open ourselves to more attacks by dedicated
fanatical groups, both here and abroad, with no end in sight. Aside
from being an unjust and unwise war, the attack and the consequent
occupation of Iraq could lead to a range of events at home and
abroad that few of us would wish to contemplate.
This statement has come to us
from Ken Nakayama, Harvard University, and Nancy Kanwisher, MIT
http://www.noIraqAttack.org/
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| Presbyterians across the nation
are speaking and writing and taking action against the threatened
war on Iraq.
Presbyterian News Service recently
published a good overview of some of
those actions. The Witherspoon Society is happy to note the
our recent open letter
to the President is quoted at some length in this story. |
| Peacemaking Program posts worship
resources for use in the event of war
Mark Koenig of the Presbyterian Peacemaking
Program announces this additional resource on the Peacemaking
Program website, noting that they are provided "while praying that
they are never used."
Click here,
and then click on the Worship Resources link. |
| Two days ago we posted a little
story about "George W.
and the Youth of America." We though it was amusing, but a
a visitor objected. |
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Charges filed against Cincinnati pastor
The Presbytery of Cincinnati filed charges against the
Rev. A. Stephen Van Kuiken on Feb. 10, alleging two violations of the
Presbyterian Church (USA) Constitution. This is the first of more than 20
cases filed by attorney Paul Jensen that has made it to trial.
The Layman Online carries the first report we've seen.
The first charge against Van Kuiken, who is pastor of
the Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, is that he has
participated in the ordination and installation of deacons and elders who
are in violation of section G-60106(b) of the Book of Order.
The second charge is that he has "performed and/or condoned and
facilitated the performance by others of same-sex marriage ceremonies at
the Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church."
Van Kuiken has commented that the Investigating
Committee for his case offered him an "alternative resolution," but only
if he would admit that what he has done is wrong, and would promise not to
do those things again. He could not accept those terms, because he
believes both of those actions are right, and he must continue to do them. |
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Presbytery of Santa Fe passes resolution
of support for the Moderator and Stated Clerk, beginning with the
words:
We, the members of The Presbytery of Santa Fe, stand
with the Moderator of the 214th General Assembly and the Stated Clerk
during these times of unprecedented pressure. |
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2/12/03 |
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The
threat of war against Iraq |
| Wendell Berry looks deep into
the heart of America's rush to war
Wendell Berry - poet, essayist, novelist and
farmer - will be a special guest at the Witherspoon Society
Conference in Louisville on Saturday morning, March 8.
Here's a glimpse of his latest -- and very
moving -- thoughts on the current American crisis.
Wendell Berry has written before about the
significance of 9/11 and the dangers of the current administration's
way of responding to it. He has now published a more extensive essay
entitled "A Citizen's Response to the National Security Strategy of
the United States of America."
An abridged version of the essay was
published in the New York Times on February 9, 2003.
The
abridged version is available on the website of Orion Press.
It's worth reading! You can also read the complete version by
clicking a link on that page.
Because Mr. Berry will be joining us
for the Witherspoon Society Conference on March in Louisville, his
publisher has generously agreed to let us reprint the sort version
of his essay in the materials we are preparing for the conference.
So if you're there, you'd have a great opportunity to hear and talk
with Wendell Betty, and also to take home a copy of his essay.
Just to give you a taste, here's how he
begins the full version of the essay:
THE NEW NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY
published by the White House in September 2002, if carried out,
would amount to a radical revision of the political character of our
nation. Its central and most significant statement is this:
While
the United States will constantly strive to enlist the support of
the international community, we will not hesitate to act alone, if
necessary, to exercise our right of self defense by acting
preemptively against such terrorists... (p. 6)
A
democratic citizen must deal here first of all with the question,
Who is this "we"? It is not the "we" of the Declaration of
Independence, which referred to a small group of signatories bound
by the conviction that "governments [derive] their just powers from
the consent of the governed." And it is not the "we" of the
Constitution, which refers to "the people [my
emphasis] of the United States."
This "we" of the new strategy can refer only to the
president. It is a royal "we". A head of state, preparing to act
alone in starting a preemptive war, will need to justify his
intention by secret information, and will need to plan in secret and
execute his plan without forewarning. ...
Berry goes on to reflect on the President's
moralistic approach to the preemptive war:
MUCH OF THE OBSCURITY
of our effort so far against terrorism originates in this now
official idea that the enemy is evil and that we are (therefore)
good, which is the precise mirror image of the official idea of the
terrorists.
The
epigraph of Part III of The National Security Strategy contains this
sentence from President Bush's speech at the National Cathedral on
September 14, 2001: "But our responsibility to history is
already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil."
A government, committing its nation to rid the world of evil, is
assuming necessarily that it and its nation are good.
But the proposition that anything so
multiple and large as a nation can be "good" is an insult to common
sense. It is also dangerous, because it precludes any attempt at
self criticism or self correction; it precludes public dialogue.
He concludes:
We can no longer afford to confuse
peaceability with passivity. Authentic peace is no more passive than
war. Like war, it calls for discipline and intelligence and strength
of character, though it calls also for higher principles and aims.
If we are serious about peace, then we must work for it as ardently,
seriously, continuously, carefully, and bravely as we now prepare
for war.
Kentucky farmer Wendell Berry is the
author of more than thirty books including, most recently,
In the Presence of Fear:
Three Essays for a Changed World.
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George W. and the Youth of
America
(for a slightly lighter -- or scarier -- perspective)
George Bush visited a school to see if he was still popular among
the youth of America. He held a short speech and asked some children
if they had any questions for him.
Bob raised his hand and said: "I have three questions for you."
1) How did you win the election even though you had less votes?
2) Why do you want to attack Iraq without the backing of the UN?
3) Do you agree, just like me, that the bombing of Hiroshima was the
biggest terrorist action of the last century?
At that point the bell rings and all children run out of the
classroom.
After 5 minutes all the children are back inside and Bush again asks
the children if there are any questions they would like to ask.
This time Joe raises his hand and says he has five questions.
1) How did you win the election even though you had less votes?
2) Why do you want to attack Iraq without the backing of the UN?
3) Do you agree, just like me, that the bombing of Hiroshima was the
biggest terrorist action of the last century?
4) Why did the bell ring 20 minutes early?
5) Where is Bob?
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A Presbyterian
Delegation will visit Colombia on March 17-29 to study the impact of US aid in that
deeply conflicted country. Betty Kersting, one of the planners of
the visit, reports that 19 are registered, but there's still room for a
few more. The delegation is sponsored by the Witherspoon Society and
the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, under the auspices of Witness for
Peace. |
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2/5/03 |
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Presbyterian News Service has issued
a correction of its report
that Pres. Bush had refused to meet with a delegation of church leaders. |
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Two Presbyterians sentenced to prison
Women entered Army base while protesting U.S.
military school
You have seen our reports
of the sentencing of Presbyterian participants in the peaceful protest
(Hey, how's that??) against the School of the Americas.
Now you can read the
Presbyterian News Service account (complete with photos!), which for
some reason ignores the Rev. Cliff Frasier, who was also arrested and
sentenced. |
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James Foster
Reese is 3rd moderator candidate
New York City Presbytery has made the Rev. James Foster
Reese, its interim executive presbyter, the third candidate for moderator
of the 215th General Assembly. |
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"We'd rather go hungry than
eat sweatshop tacos!"
The boycott of Taco Bell was approved by the
214th General Assembly. The latest information, from the Campaign for Labor Rights,
Washington, DC, offers a helpful update and possibilities for action. |
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Self-Development of People approves
44 projects
The National Presbyterian Committee on the
Self-Development of People (SDOP) approved funding for 44 projects totaling
$662,198 during a meeting in Los Angeles, Jan. 24-25.
The report lists all the projects. |
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2/4/03 |
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An urgent message from the
Presbyterian Office in Washington:
Call/write to senators to support
resolution for allowing the UN to do its work |
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2/3/03 |
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The
threat of war against Iraq |
| Bush
refuses to meet with religious leaders
NEW YORK -- January 31, 2003 -- Citing the "utmost
urgency" of their request, 46 U.S. religious leaders who have been working
"to slow the rush to war" with Iraq today petitioned President George W.
Bush for a face-to-face meeting.
Bush rejected the request.
Presbyterian Church (USA) signers of the letter included
the Rev. Roberto Delgado of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; General Assembly
stated clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick; and the Rev. Robina Winbush, ecumenical
officer for the Office of the General Assembly. |
| Former
President Jimmy Carter urges US government to pursue alternatives to
war |
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Dealing with Saddam
without war
Sunday's New York Times (February 2,
2003) had a good mainstream column against the war. The Rev. Bruce
Gillette recommends it for reading and sharing.
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| Moderator and Stated Clerk send
pastoral letter to the church
Moderator Fahed Abu-Akel and Stated Clerk Clifton
Kirkpatrick have sent a pastoral letter to all Presbyterian churches.
In it they explain the decision not to call a special session of the General
Assembly, and invite the people of our church "to join a growing chorus of
voices across the country, calling for the United States to exercise
restraint, to refrain from taking pre-emptive military action against Iraq,
and to seek peaceful resolutions to the current crisis." |
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2/1/03 |
From your WebWeaver --
We've somehow lost the left-border navigation links (on every page but
this home page), and haven't been able to restore them yet. We
apologize, and we're working on it!On 2-4-03
-- Well, we haven't made much progress on getting the old navigation bar
in the left margin, so we'll substituted the one you find on this home
page. Hope it's some help -- and we'll keep trying! |
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Click here for the
January archive page. and
here for a listing of all earlier archive pages |
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If you like what
you find here,
we hope you'll help us keep Voices for Justice going ... and
growing!
Please consider making a special
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Click here to send a
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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