Posted on 07/15/2004 9:58:10 PM PDT by ChicagoHebrew
Major US Christian Denomination Backs Divestment From Israel 00:22 Jul 16, '04 / 27 Tammuz 5764
Leaders of the largest Christian Presbyterian denomination have officially equated Israel with apartheid-era South Africa and voted to divest from Israel, according to a report in the New York Forward.
The decision by the Presbyterian Church was approved 431 to 62 in a vote at the 216th annual General Assembly of the church, which has a membership of 3 million and a foundation and pension fund of $7 billion.
According to the Forward, the Protestant group is the largest organization or institution to join the divestment campaign against Israel. They are also the first Christian denomination to join the divestment campaign being waged on campuses and elsewhere against the Jewish State. The church also voted to continue funding "messianic congregations," which target Jews for conversion.
At an international interfaith meeting in Buenos Aires last week, Roman Catholic officials signed a document that called for "the total rejection of anti-Semitism in all its forms, including anti-Zionism as a more recent manifestation equated anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.”
The Anti-Defamation League condemned the Presbyterian decision. “We were offended and distressed by the actions of the Presbyterian Church USA at your most recent General Assembly pertaining to Jews and Israel.” said ADL director Abraham Foxman. “Specifically, we cite the vote to continue funding the Avodat Yisrael Church [a church in Philadelphia that targets Jews for proselytization –ed.], and other missionizing churches targeting Jews, and the "overture" or resolution calling for divestiture from Israel.”
The Presbyterian Assembly also voted overwhelming to condemn Israel's construction of the separation/security fence and to officially disavow Christian Zionism as a legitimate theological stance.
I am a member (and an Elder) at my church (Presbyterian USA) and am ashamed of this as well. I was at a meeting with other elders and the pastor and mentioned this vote against Israel. And the PCUSA's vote on saying that the Iraq War is immoral and unjust and illegal - so basically saying that the troops that we pray for each Sunday are war criminals (the pastor and other conservatives cringed).
I told them that I explained these votes to my 10-year old son. That the War vote doesn't mean anything (and I'm not sure how big an impact the Israel vote will have - but I don't think too much). But I told my son (and wife and the group) that what some elitest liberal leaders think and do doesn't change the way I feel about MY church and the brothers and sisters in that church.
However, I'm tempted not to send in my annual donation ("Head Tax") to the Presbyterian Fund. Maybe buy some stock in Caterpiller instead!
Many thanks for your thoughts, my friend.
/john
"I am looking forward to the "boycott war"
Keep us informed, if you can. I will be happy to join in in any way that I can.
Finally Abe Foxman says something I can back 100%.
why don't more of you go PCA? PCUSA has been wacky for some time.
Southern Baptist raised....spared all that apostate-liberal ambiguity thankfully.
Unfortunately, I am not surprised at this move given some of the other moves they've made.
Israel and the Jew have a specific place in the plans of God and no man or organization, church or otherwise, will thwart His purpose or will.
but in reading the prophecies, I expect Israel to eventually stand alone, except with her God in the Last Days. According to Zechariah 12, 13 and 14.
"Is this the same church that narrowly rejected homosexual ministers about two weeks ago? Isn't this church losing members rapidly?"
No, this past June leaders of the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted overwhelmingly to OVERTURN a ban on ordaining homosexuals as ministers of the church.
I think this is one of reasons they are hemorrhaging members.
In the leadup to the war, Hussein fired literally hundreds of missiles at our pilots. Maybe you could ask the higher-ups who decided that the war was immoral whether they thought Hussein's firing of missiles at our people constituted repeated acts of war. If they didn't consider Hussein's actions to constitute repeated acts of war, then they need to be asked whether they though Hussein's actions were justified. The issue here is really very simple, either Hussein was not justified in firing missiles at our pilots, in which case we were justified in treating his repeated acts of aggression as acts of war. Or Hussein was justified in firing missiles at our pilots, in which case the people who believe this can safely be said to have gone over to the side of a person who was trying to kill our pilots, not to mention killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis.
Soon PCUSA will be like European churches. A left-wing clergy that does all this stuff for "social justice" or whatever, but just a few old ladies that go to church every sunday.
Actually, most of our left wing elites, aka limo liberals, are beyond communism. They are rich/elite fascists and want socialism for their voters. They enjoy the good elite life of being the top fascists to ever be communists.
Of course they will neve say anything bad about commy dictators like Castro and the nutty one in N Korea. They never met a commy that they didn't love.
Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
If God's promises are forever, then the Presbyterian Church is doomed to be temporary.
I hope jews understand that this kind of thing is rampant on the left.
And the Presbyterian leadership wonders why the rank and file are leaving in droves...
That wall is the most humanitarian thing that is being built in my lifetime. The outfit clearly doesn't care about the loss of innocent life. It is the only "solution" with a humanitarian outcome currently available in the neighborhood. It will save not only Jewish lives, but in time Palestinian lives. This outfit seems to have gone absolutely nutter.
Bump to that one!
Things are changing though... slowly. I know my mother, for one, whenever she hears someone on CNN blasting Israel tunes into the 700 Club to pick up her spirits.
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