This page lists reports and commentary from September, 2006

House Republicans pass legislation to allow torture – by whatever name  

Yesterday the House passed a bill that would allow the Bush administration to use interrogation methods that certainly look a lot like torture, even though the President has been careful to call them something a little less than torture. The bill also would allow the President to prosecute detainees accused of terrorism, with little regard for the niceties of basic and constitutional rights.

The Senate is likely to act soon on a similar bill, which has been allowed to move forward because some of the leading Republican "moderates" reached a compromise with Bush.

It seems unlikely that any mere citizens can resist this legitimizing of torture and abandonment of basic human rights, but just in case you want to try – or at least do informed grumbling about it – here are some helpful resources >>

As the election draws near and the Religious Right raises voices again in favor of the values it holds dear, it’s clear that other people of faith are speaking out as well.  Various faith-based groups -- often inter-faith -- are holding conferences to focus on the relevance of progressive perspectives to current political issues.

Two conferences we mention are planned for Tennessee and Minnesota.

And we link to a report of the growing numbers of "moderate evangelicals" who are more concerned about poverty and AIDS and global warming than about "protecting the family" and all that.

Antiwar protest part of national 'Declaration of Peace'

Berry Craig lives in western Kentucky, where being Christian and being conservative Republican are pretty much the same thing.  So he appreciates a book by John Danforth, a retired U.S. Senator who says that ain't necessarily so.  Danforth is both Christian and Republican, but says you can be both without being narrowly conservative.

The Interfaith Alliance Foundation has developed a campaign season resource to help you understand that a partnership between religion and government can and should preserve the autonomy of houses of worship and ensure that religious institutions are not held hostage to the priorities and interests of federal, state, or local governments. Download at www.interfaithalliance.org/elections or email us your address to receive a copy via mail.

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They also provide brief comments (and links to other material) on these issues and events:

Theological Task Force member releases new book supporting committed same-gender relationships

Stacy Johnson, professor of systematic theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, and a former member of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church, has just released a book entitled A Time to Embrace: Same-Gender Relationships in Religion, Law, and Politics, in which he analyzes seven different ways that churches have dealt with same-sex unions.  His analysis leads him to offer support of same-sex committed relationships. You can look at the book, published by Eerdmans, on the publisher's website.

You can pre-order it on Amazon and save 34% from the Eerdmans price.

For a brief version of Johnson's analysis >>

[From an Americans United press release dated Sept. 22, 2006]

A Religious Right-sponsored "Values Voter Summit" this week is nothing but an attempt to drum up evangelical support for Republican candidates before the November elections, charges Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The supposedly non-partisan event, which takes place in Washington Sept. 22-24, is sponsored jointly by political affiliates of Focus on the Family (FOF), the Family Research Council (FRC) and other Religious Right groups. It features a line-up of GOP officeholders and presidential aspirants.

No Democrats appear among the announced speakers, and organizers such as FOF Chairman James Dobson and FRC President Tony Perkins don't seem to have spent much time getting any to come.

Both FaithfulAmerica.com, which is related to the National Council of Churches, and the Friends Committee on National Legislation, have issued calls for people of faith to raise their voices, encouraging members of Congress to resist the pressures from the President to legitimize the use of torture (which he may be moderating slightly in response to the many Senators and Representatives, even from his own party, who are refusing to support his efforts).

They both provide helpful information to use in writing to Congress.

Religious coalition calls for ban on use of torture
Presbyterian-founded group publishes anti-torture newspaper ad

The Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
September 19, 2006  

Many localities had mid-term elections on September 12. We are beginning to get a sense of some of the issues the candidates view as important. We have several weeks before the November 7, 2006 Mid-term elections. If your issue is not one that seems to be on the agenda of the candidates, you might want to go to a candidate’s forum in your area and ask why. Call the candidate’s office to find out were the speaking engagements are.

Cynthia Adams, whose recent comments drew a strongly critical response from Dr. Earl Tilford, responds to him by reaffirming (as a "pacifist grandmother") her own commitment to peace, and her appreciation of Dr.Griffin’s Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11 as she continues studying it.

Two comments on the Witherspoon statement 

We posted on Sept. 15 a statement by Witherspoon’s board, expressing dismay at the words and actions of some Presbyterian looking toward some kind of separation, and affirming the call to discernment and unity from the 217^th General Assembly.

The Board of the Witherspoon Society, meeting from September 13 through 16 at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, today adopted a statement expressing dismay at the actions and statements by some Presbyterians, congregations and presbyteries that seem to violate the spirit of "harmony and covenanted partnership" that were fostered by the Theological Task Force and experienced by many at the 217^th General Assembly in Birmingham. 

The statement concludes:  "We pledge to join with all Presbyterians in carrying out the letter and the spirit of both the AI and our broader Presbyterian tradition: to defend our Constitution against anarchy and misinterpretation, to seek more thorough discernment, and to assist candidates and committees as we all try to live our way into the new opportunities brought to us by the Theological Task Force, the actions of the 217^th General Assembly, and the Reformed heritage upon which the Presbyterian Church (USA) stands."

Witherspooner Rev. Betty Hale writes:

I would think the Center [for Victims of Torture] would be one of the best sources of perspective we can find....   It's still hard to believe that America is having a debate about this.

shalom, salaam, peace
Betty

As the Administration presses for more freedom to use torture, it’s time to speak out together:

The Center is urging people to contact their representatives in Congress, calling them to hold the CIA accountable for the torture methods they have used.

Former Israeli and Palestinian warriors find a new cause to fight for: peace 

The recent violence between Hezbollah and Israel seems like another mile marker on the path to hopelessness, but as Dragonfire’s Sara Toth reports, some have seized the debacle as a chance to stand up for peace. When former Israeli soldier Itamar Shapira was jailed in August for refusing to fight in Lebanon, a rally outside the prison revealed a subculture in support of his decision. Among the pacifist protesters were members of Combatants for Peace, a new anti-war group made up of former warriors. Shapira is a member of the 60-strong organization of peace converts from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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NCC General Secretary Bob Edgar appearing on two important talk shows today

Media Alert from FaithfulAmerica

Today:   Don't miss former Congressman and fellow FaithfulAmerican Dr. Bob Edgar today on these two important (and politically conservative) broadcasts:

4-5PM (ED):   The Michael Medved Show (Salem Radio)

8-9PM (ED):   The O'Reilly Factor (Fox News Television Channel)   (repeated 11-12PM (ED) )

Authoritarian, Benevolent, Critical or Distant – Americans hold four different images of God

Which God one believes in shapes a person’s social and political views, and personal religious life, more than the usual categories of Protestant, Catholic and Jew, or even conservative and liberal.

Sometimes a lament is the most fitting (and healing) response to terrible evil and suffering. This moving meditation, very different from Rabbi Arthur Waskow’s, may be touching some of the same deep feelings, and deep truths.

Michael Adee, National Field Organizer for More Light Presbyterians, has issued a call for prayers for her, her witness, her family and her presbytery.

The Voice of Christ in the Birthplace of Christ  

Witherspoon member Jill Sherrill has shared two news stories from the Sacramento Bee, reporting on successful efforts by conservative church leaders to pass four resolutions in the Presbytery of Sacramento. All four were passed during the 4-hour meeting, although (Jill reports) proponents of the resolutions were "warned repeatedly during the meeting ... that their actions are unconstitutional and will not pass muster in the PCUSA judicial system, nor the California courts."

The resolutions, as reported by the Bee, institute these rules for the Presbytery:

1. Candidates for ordination must comply with traditional ordination standards.
2. The Presbytery must not recognize candidates who fail to do so.
3. Any congregation may withhold money from the national church in protest, and the Presbytery will not make up the difference.
4. The Presbytery must allow individual congregations to withdraw from it with their property in protest.

The first news report deals with church discussions leading up to the Presbytery meeting.

Commenting on Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11: A Call to Reflection and Action by David Ray Griffin. John Shuck says that the real "truth behind 9/11," and behind the new American empire-building, is our need for oil and the impending decline in the world’s supply of that precious stuff.

Another critique from the left:

Countless words have been spoken and tears shed in the past five years, and we’ve been searching for appropriate words to share here in observance of the fifth anniversary of a day that changed some many things.

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, co-author, The Tent of Abraham; director, The Shalom Center, which voices a new prophetic agenda in Jewish, multireligious, and American life, wrote the first version of this essay wither in a week after the attack. It has been published since then in such diverse places as the AARP magazine and The Nation.

As he shares it again with friends, Rabbi Waskow says, "As I listen to the endless arguments over what to build at Ground Zero, sometimes I think: Forget the grandiose designs. Put up a leafy, leaky, shaky, vulnerable hut . It will fall apart in every rainstorm, and we will put it up again. And again. And again. It will teach all of us the truth about the world we live in. No more Towers."

The Rev. Jill Martinez, who was nominated for Moderator of the 212^th General Assembly in 2000, and who joined the Witherspoon Society in the same year, is running for Congress in California's 24th congressional district. That district covers Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and, she says, appears to offer a "winnable race" for a Democrat in what has been a Republican district.

If anyone is interested in learning more about her campaign, there’s information on her website – including a brief bio sketch and policy papers on issues such as education, health care, housing, the need to "change course in Iraq, immigration policy ... and more.

She can be contacted at jill_martinez@verizon.net  or by phone at (805) 446-3000. Her Ventura office is located at 89 California Street in Ventura, and her Santa Barbara county office is at 1301 East Clark Rd, in Orcutt.

Summer breaks have come to an end. Washington political leaders and advocates have begun their work. In this mid-term election year, the end of this session will come quickly so that all members of the House of Representatives and a third of the Senators can spend time seeking your vote in the November elections. They have fewer than 19 session days scheduled before Election Day.

It would appear that the war in Iraq, stem cell research, tax cuts and immigration are among the hot topics of the electorate. A study guide with excerpts from General Assembly policy on these and others issues can be found at www.pcusa.org/christiancitizen/newstudyguide . This is the Christian and Citizen Election Year guide on the web page of the Washington Office www.pcusa.org/washington.

This week’s issues are:

The former Moderator of the PC(USA), now Director of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, says " I will risk arrest to make it clear that I believe the War in Iraq is a violation of my most fundamental beliefs as a Christian."  And he invites other Presbyterians to join in.

Presbyterians may remember rather clearly the accusations of anti-Semitism that were leveled against the PC(USA) after the action of the 2004 General Assembly calling for a study of possible divestment from certain US corporations involved in the Israeli occupation of Palestine and supporters of Arab terrorist groups.

The accusations continue, though the apologies tendered by the 2006 General Assembly seem to have had some effect in easing them. But the church is in good company, at least.

Rosa Brooks writes in the L. A. Times about the fierce criticisms of Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. That highly respected group sent observers to Lebanon during the Israeli invasion, as it does during most such conflicts.

An up-close look at "Justice in a Global Economy" -- and what to do about it      

Globalization isn’t just "out there" far away from us, but it certainly does seem to be an overwhelming constellation of issues and problems, far beyond out reach. This book offers a variety of materials dealing with globalization as it impacts us in our daily lives, along with strategies for dealing with it in our homes and communities, as well as in the public policy arena.

Earl Tilford, now Coordinator of Terrorism and Middle Eastern Study Group at Grove City College, sets out his arguments against Griffin’s Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11.