This page lists reports and commentary from the month of June, 2004.
Click here for special coverage looking toward the 216th General Assembly,
June 26 - July 3, 2004

By a vote of 35 to 30, the General Assembly's Committee on Church Orders and Ministry decided to recommend that the Assembly remove all authoritative interpretations (AIs) banning the ordination of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons in the Presbyterian Church.

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Moving testimony provides information for voting on ordination

Witherspoon luncheon hears Katie Cannon's call to "ontological blackness" as a way of doing theology and renewing our witness 

Rick Ufford-Chase is the new Moderator

This evening's session of the 216^th General Assembly quickly elected a young elder as its moderator this evening. A quick report:

Rick Ufford-Chase, director of the BorderLinks ministry in T , Arizona, was elected on the second ballot by a vote of 275 to 186 for David McKechnie and 40 for K. C. Ptomey. On the first ballot, Ufford-Chase received 226 votes to 166 for McKechnie and 101 for Ptomey.

Witherspoon and other groups issue a joint statement to the 216^th General Assembly:  Denial of Civil Rights

We hope you'll join us for some special Witherspoon Society events -- a pre-Assembly discussion of the "families in Transition" report; a special orientation session for commissioners and others; the Annual Witherspoon Luncheon with guest speaker Dr. Katie Cannon on "Power in the Church," and of course the great annual Witherspoon party and dance.

You'll be able to buy tickets for these events at the ticket counter in the registration area at the Convention Center. 

Deadline for Sunday Luncheon tickets:  In order for us to order enough luncheon servings (and not too many), we need your Awards Luncheon reservations to be made by Friday at 5 PM – either through the GA events desk, or by contacting Gene TeSelle at teselle@bellsouth.net, or Doug King at dougking2@aol.com.  We hope to see you there!

Virginia moves toward a major reversal of gay rights

The National Association of Evangelicals is working on what could be a groundbreaking framework for political action.

While it is grounded in biblical morality and evangelical scholarship, the framework for public engagement strongly endorses social and economic justice and warns against close alignment with any political party. It affirms a religiously based commitment to government protections for the poor, the sick and disabled, including fair wages, healthcare, nutrition and education, and declares that Christians have a "sacred responsibility" to protect the environment.

But it also hews closely to a traditional evangelical emphasis on the importance of families, opposition to homosexual marriage and "social evils" such as alcohol, drugs, abortion and the use of human embryos for stem-cell research. It reaffirms a commitment to religious freedom at home and abroad.

Last year's General Assembly received for action a study and policy document entitled "Families in Transition." After lengthy debate, a group of conservative committee members, working with the advice of Alan Wisdom, Presbyterian Action director of the Institute for Religion and Democracy, drafted a substitute motion which sent the paper back for revision.

Mr. Wisdom was invited to join the drafting committee, and took an active part in the revision process.

Now, as the revised document goes to the 216^th General Assembly, Mr. Wisdom's organization has presented a review of the paper, making clear that for all the changes they had a hand in making, they are still unhappy with the result.

Their review article, authored by IRD Research Associate Erik Nelson, criticizes the report on a number of fronts: its affirmation that people other than the biological parents of a child can provide parenting as good as that offered by biological parents; its affirmation that there can be healthy families that do not fit the "traditional" pattern of man, woman, and their biological children; its failure to condemn strongly enough cohabitation outside of marriage, and same-sex relationships; its assertion that the well-being of children should be given more weight that judgements of the family structures in which they are raised. And finally, the paper is condemned because it accepts too many current patterns of marriage and sexuality in our culture, without providing firm biblical condemnations. So it concludes:

The paper downplays the harmful effects of divorce and cohabitation, and it downplays the significance of the biological family. It temporizes with the cultural forces that seek to transform families in ways that are harmful and destructive, rather than transform families through the transforming love of Jesus Christ. The church cannot remain silent before these cultural trends. Our culture needs to hear from a church willing to speak the message of the Gospel to families, no matter how counter-cultural and uncomfortable that message may be.

It looks as if the "Transforming Families" paper, for all the efforts to make it more acceptable to the conservatives in the PC(USA), may be under attack yet again.

Eugene Rogers, writing in The Christian Century, argues from within the tradition of the Orthodox Church that marriage "is not primarily for the control of lust or for procreation. It is a discipline whereby we give ourselves to another for the sake of growing in holiness--for, more precisely, the sake of God." And, he argues, if God's creative action is a clear affirmation of diversity [think mosquitoes and giraffes!] then diversity of sexual and familial relationships should also be affirmed and sanctified in marriage.

Julian Bond, civil rights leader and board chairman of the NAACP, writing in Ebony Magazine (July 2004), declares that "Gay and lesbians' rights are not 'special rights' in any way. It isn't 'special' to be free from discrimination -- it is an ordinary, universal entitlement of citizenship. The right not to be discriminated against is a commonplace claim we all expect to enjoy under our laws and our founding document, the Constitution."

To those who argue that gay rights are not at all analogous to racial civil rights, Bond replies:

No analogy between movements for rights is exact. African-Americans are the only Americans who were enslaved for more than two centuries, and people of color carry the badge of who we are on our faces. But we are far from the only people suffering from discrimination -- sadly, so do many others. They deserve the law's protections and civil rights, too. Some who object to gay rights see homosexuality as a choice, but science has demonstrated conclusively that sexual disposition is inherent in some, not an option or alternative they've selected. In that regard, it exactly parallels race -- I was born Black and had no choice. I couldn't and wouldn't change it. Like race, our sexuality isn't a preference -- it is immutable, unchangeable, and the Constitution protects us all against prejudices and discrimination based on immutable differences. [emphasis added by your WebWeaver]

A new organization, Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change (http://www.diplomatsforchange.com/) has issued a powerful statement calling for the defeat of President Bush in November as an essential first step in restoring good relations with the Middle East and the rest of the world. The group expects to critique US policy in a series of future statements and positions.    Click here for the full text of their brief statement.

In a newly published book, Patrick Miller offers biblical and theological material for dealing with today's uses of religion and God for narrow nationalistic and political ends.  Its title:  The God You Have: Politics and the First Commandment.   Click here for the publisher's announcement, and a link to buy the book.

The latest ones:

Earlier background papers include:

A message through an information network of the National Council of Churches.  Dated June 18, 2004, posted here 6-19-04

Looking for a new way to get involved in your community? The Great American Bake Sale is a fun and easy way to make a difference in the lives of the 13 million children at risk of hunger in the U.S.

Participation is simple:

1) Register at www.greatamericanbakesale.org or by calling (800) 761-4227. It's free and easy. The Great American Bake Sale will send you a wall poster with tips and recipes to get you started.

2)Plan and hold your bake sale anytime between April 4th and July 25th. This year, as an official Great American Bake Sale Community Partner, The National Council of Churches has helped develop tips and materials for faith-based teams interested in participating.

3)Send in your funds on or before July 25th and receive a Great American Bake Sale treat. Funds are distributed to quality child hunger organizations in your state and across the country.

Nearly 7,000 teams, including about 600 faith-based teams, have already registered to participate in The Great American Bake Sale 2004. Information on participation and tips for bake sale success are available at www.greatamericanbakesale.org.

  Click here to download (free!) Adobe Reader software to view this and all PDF files.

A couple days ago we posted the latest issue of the Witherspoon newsletter, Network News.  We'd like to know what you think of it!

If you're a Witherspoon member, are you glad to see it available on the Web as well as in the old-fashioned paper version?  If you're not a member and don't receive the paper version of the newsletter, we'd like very much to hear what you think of it - good and bad! Would you like us to continue posting it in this format?

And of course, if you like it, we hope you'll become a member of Witherspoon and get your very own paper copy four times a year.

Just send a note and tell us what you think.

And click here if you want to consider joining the group.

You can make a donation using your credit card, through the secure PayPal electronic payment system.  Just click on the button below, register with your credit card number and address, and you'll receive an e-mail acknowledgement -- and later a note from us as well.

OR you can send a contribution by check (to "The Witherspoon Society") to:
Doug King, Witherspoon Society
1418 Clarendon Drive
Wayzata, MN  55391

This concern is reflected in at least two overtures coming to the 216^th General Assembly: 04-3 from the Presbytery of John Calvin, and 04-61 from the Presbytery of the Peaks. On the other hand, Overture 04-52, from the Presbytery of Hudson River, affirms the Presbyterian tradition of respect for the freedom of conscience.  (Click here for the Hudson River overture as  posted on this website.)

Gene TeSelle has provided an essay examining this important issue, which has just been published in Network News, and is now posted here.

Faithful America, an online community of people of faith who want to build a more just and compassionate nation, has prepared a TV ad to be placed on Arab television, "to send a message directly from us, the people of the United States, to the people of Iraq and the Arab world, telling them that as Americans we stand shoulder to shoulder with them in demanding justice for these sinful abuses committed in our name."

If you'd like to take a look at it now, it's available right here in PDF format.

We recently posted a suggestion from an anonymous source that people wear something red every Friday as a symbol of solidarity with those of all nationalities who are suffering in Iraq, and as a call for an end to the violence there.

An enthusiastic response came from Nancy Walker, a woman whose son was killed in military service in Iraq. Her comment was met by a note from Andre Katz, who accused her of supporting terrorism, etc., etc., etc.

Ms. Walker has now responded to Mr. Katz's charges, pointing to another example of those who dismiss her concerns as unpatriotic.  She concludes:  "I will be wearing red on Fridays, and the entire time at the Peace and Justice Conference. I am red, white and blue in my patriotism but I don't have to wave the flag and shout "hooray" just because some moron is beating a drum."

We've heard more than enough commentary, perhaps, about the war in Iraq. But sometimes thoughts about this war, like its predecessors, are too strong for prose, and we need to hear from our poets.

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has published a few of the poems that he has received, including this one, from "an embittered second lieutenant who asks not to be named."

Knock the dust off your boots, my boy,
It's time to ride again.
The frontier has gone restless now
And we must crush this rebellion. . . .
These people understand only violence,
So let's give it to 'em now.
We'll ride 'em down like Cherokee;
We'll trample 'em like Pueblo.
These savages are ruthless;
They understand no law.
So we'll pick up our Peacemakers,
And shoot 'em like Choctaw. . . .
Rally round the flag, my boy,
And grab your rifle, too.
The Red Man's turned Brown, my boy,
And there's a lot of peacemaking to do.

Last week the National Council of Churches issued a invitation to America's churches to join in the National Day of Mourning on Friday, June 11, and expressing condolences to Mrs. Nancy Reagan.

We received this brief response to the call for a Day of Mourning:

I will not ask my church to mourn Reagan's passing. It is not up to me to judge. That is up to God. I will pray for his soul.

I will mourn for the 70,000 people who died in Latin America because he, like all of our presidents, supported the death, disappearance and torture of those people who were struggling for freedom and human dignity. I will mourn for the 30,000 men who died of aids because he refused to support the development of drugs that would have saved or prolonged their lives.

This is a time when we should be holding up Reagan's misdeeds to the light of the truth that will set us free, to resolve to do those necessary actions that will prevent the election of future presidents of his ilk.

Amen.

Dwight Lawton
St. Petersburg, FL

Charles Henderson offers a thoughtful look at Ronald Reagan's faith as a neglected aspect of his personality, his presidency, and his impact on American life. George W. Bush apparently can't claim credit for making the first connection between piety and politics.

Cal Thomas, writing as an evangelical, finds much to praise in Ronald Reagan, but he laments that in becoming his unabashed supporters, conservative Christians began "equating Christianity with the Republican Party," and lost the critical distance they should have maintained in relation to any political power.

Two commentators remind us that President Reagan, like the rest of us, had his shadow side.

The Washington Post reports on current efforts by House Republican leaders to give religious leaders more freedom to engage in partisan politics without endangering the tax-exempt status of their churches - through a provision tacked on to a major jobs bill.

Gene TeSelle, Witherspoon's Issues Analyst, examines many of the studies, overtures, and other items that will be considered during the 116th General Assembly in Richmond.

Dean Lindsey, pastor of Salem Presbyterian Church in Salem, VA, recently reported in the local paper on a talk by the Rev. George Conn, a retired Presbyterian pastor, recently returned from a visit to Israel-Palestine.  He explored the reasons for the deep hostility felt by so many in the Middle East toward the US.

US continues favoring a "one-state" solution to the Israel-Palestine struggle, ignoring all UN mandates and legitimate interests of Palestinians.

So far they have posted papers on:

A Place Called Justice, From the Heartland to the Horizon

MLP staffer Michael Adee reports on National Conference of More Light Presbyterians, That All May Freely Serve, and Shower of Stoles Project, held May 20-23 in Kansas City, Missouri  

You'll find links to some of the sermons preached during the conference, and more.

On May 26 we posted a suggestion that people wear something red each Friday, as a memorial to those (on all sides!) who have died in the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, and as a protest against the violations of the most basic human rights that are being perpetrated in the name of freedom.

We've received a passionate and inspiring response from a mother whose son, a Marine, was killed in action on April 6, 2004.   For now, we'll post the whole note here:

Great Idea!

I just read the suggestion today, Sunday, and am glad that I inadvertently made a statement last Friday. My son, Staff Sgt Allan K. Walker, USMC, was killed in action April 6, 2004. Friday his high school honored him as a part of their regular Memorial Day observance, and I wore a red jacket.

I get so tired of people telling me "You shouldn't say things like 'Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush are no better than mass murderers because your own son died defending your liberties'." EXCUSE ME. My son served in the armed services of this nation, in order to ensure all of our liberties, including mine to speak. He died trying to rescue a wounded Marine. Liberty had nothing to do with the situation in which they found themselves in mortal peril. GREED DID.

I will say it again. Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush are no better than mass murderers. They are directly responsible for wasting the lives of all the US COALITION AND IRAQI military who have been killed in Iraq, for all the grievous woundings of ALL CASUALTIES, BOTH COALITION AND IRAQI. They are responsible for ALL CIVILIAN DEATHS AND WOUNDINGS, ALL 'COLLATERAL DAMAGE' AND ALL THE LOOTING. Furthermore, by focusing on Iraq rather than Al Quaeda, Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush can now "claim" ALL THE DEATHS, WOUNDING AND DAMAGE IN MADRID. The good news is, at least Halliburton is now operating in the black instead of the red.

Another thought: I will be attending the Peace and Justice Conference in Seattle and it might be a good idea for conferees to wear red the entire time.

Nancy C. Walker

The "Little Town of Bethlehem" was put under siege by Israeli forces in 2002, and is still under occupation. Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian Arab and Christian pastor who ministers to his people in Bethlehem, tells the personal stories of Palestinians and their families as they struggle to survive the violence and to act with integrity in extreme circumstances - occupation, the wall, and suicide bombers.

What's to celebrate, you ask? Your WebWeaver grew up in Albany, NY - the deep south of Upstate New York. And now he lives in Minnesota, where similar complaints are a part of life.

Wherever you live, you might enjoy these notes from the North.  But what about where you live?  Can you share some laughter about the place you call home?  Just send a note!

For instance:

If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 36 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you might live in Upstate New York.