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Presbyterians, divestment, and anti-Semitism
Ecumenical Insanity ^ | Ecumenical Insanity

Posted on 11/13/2004 11:25:28 AM PST by Presby Conservative

Presbyterians, divestment, and anti-Semitism

The Presbyterian Church (USA) continues its campaign against Israel....

What we still have is an example of what Lawrence Summers, the president of Harvard, has forthrightly labeled anti-Semitism....

And that is why I chose the words anti-Semitic to address proposals for the large-scale divestiture of companies doing business in Israel, to address the movement in England to remove Israeli scholars from the editorial boards of scholarly journals, to address the move of Presbyterian churches last summer to divest the stocks of companies that were doing business in Israel with no action whatsoever with respect to the Palestinians.

....a petition that is available on the Internet (look here, PCUSAers) calling for a special meeting of the General Assembly to repeal the divestment resolution passed at the last Assembly. http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?pcusa4&1


TOPICS: Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: antisemitism; apostacy; apostate; apostatechurch; divestment; orthodoxy; pcusa; presbyterian; presbyterians
Presbyterians, divestment, and anti-Semitism

The Presbyterian Church (USA) continues its campaign against Israel. At a meeting this week characterized by the PCUSA news service as "tense and not always polite," the Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment set criteria for deciding which companies to target. The criteria seek to identify multinational corporations that:

*provide services to or for use by the Israeli police or military to support and maintain the occupation;

*provide products, services or technology of particular strategic importance to the support and maintenance of the occupation;

*have established facilities or operations on occupied land;

*provide products and services, including financial services, for the establishment, expansion or maintenance of Israeli settlements on occupied land;

*provide products, services or financial backing to Israeli or Palestinian groups that commit violence against innocent civilians; and

*finance or assist in the construction of Israel’s enormous separation barrier.

While I appreciate the inclusion of "Palestinian groups that commit violence against innocent civilians," it really misses the point. The primary providers of "products, services or financial backing" to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other Palestinian terrorist groups aren't companies, but governments. Unless the PCUSA is going to divest itself of holdings in Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, or companies that do business with them, this phrase is meaningless. What we still have is an example of what Lawrence Summers, the president of Harvard, has forthrightly labeled anti-Semitism:

I was powerfully struck two years ago, and am not less struck today, by the tendency to cross a line in discussions of Israel. It should be the right of any person to express any opinion he wishes with respect to Israeli foreign policy. And there is much in Israeli policy that surely should be debated, even legitimately criticized and questioned. But there are lines that need to be drawn.

When Israel is singled out for moral opprobrium, something wrong is happening. When the conflict between Israelis and the Palestinians is approached in an entirely asymmetric fashion, with criticism or sanction directed only at Israel, something wrong is happening. When comparisons are drawn with Nazis or Hitler or the SS or apartheid in South Africa, something wrong is happening.

And that is why I chose the words anti-Semitic to address proposals for the large-scale divestiture of companies doing business in Israel, to address the movement in England to remove Israeli scholars from the editorial boards of scholarly journals, to address the move of Presbyterian churches last summer to divest the stocks of companies that were doing business in Israel with no action whatsoever with respect to the Palestinians.

Yesterday, I got an e-mail from Larry Rued, an Elder at First Presbyterian Church in Bradenton, Florida, who alerted me to a petition that is available on the Internet (look here, PCUSAers) calling for a special meeting of the General Assembly to repeal the divestment resolution passed at the last Assembly. Larry also included a document entitled "Why I Signed the Petition Calling for a Special GA Session" that says in part:

Our PCUSA denominational leaders may believe they can ignore, turn-off, or argue with Jewish leaders, Congressional leaders, editorialists, or bloggers regarding the Israel divestment resolution. There is one group that cannot be dissuaded. That group is the 2.4 million members of the Presbyterian Church USA. I signed the petition calling for a special GA session so as to end the delaying that is severely damaging our church's reputation.

I'll be happy to send a copy of the entire document to anyone who asks for it. I'd sign the petition myself, but I'm not a PCUSA member. So I'll endorse it in spirit, and urge members of PCUSA churches to do so electronically. Athanasius on 11.11.04 @ 11:45 AM EST [link] [No Comments

1 posted on 11/13/2004 11:25:28 AM PST by Presby Conservative
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To: Presby Conservative

The PC USA long-ago embraced Marxist/liberation theology and the entire sewer-flow of liberalism. How to reform it? Stop giving them money. Leave. Join a group of Christians faithful to the Bible and sound doctrine.


2 posted on 11/13/2004 11:31:49 AM PST by ppaul
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To: ppaul

Hey Presbos - soon you will have a Jew in your crosshairs and a fag on your pulpit! START RESISTING COMMUNISM NOW OR PERISH.


3 posted on 11/13/2004 11:37:29 AM PST by glennherman (a gun in every home, gays back in the closet, Islam crushed, commies jailed, etc., ad infinitum)
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To: Presby Conservative
Ecumenical insanity indeed.

A little history:

http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/Ur_Muqayyar.html

God called out Abraham from the Polytheistic capital of UR unto a life of Faith.

Modern day ecumenicalism is a recall through an abject falling away from Faith unto the ecumenical goal of common ground faith with anyone and anything with Truth the casualty.

It is without coincidence that the United Nations affiliates with this movement.

http://watch.pair.com/UR.html

http://home.iae.nl/users/lightnet/religion/unitedreligions.htm

http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n1867.cfm

It is also without coincidence that "United Religion Initiative" is universally referred to as "United Religion" or UR. This is the regathering of darkness against the Light. A calling back to Polytheism through ecumenicalism.........back from Faith to lawlessness. Take care my friends.
4 posted on 11/13/2004 11:56:32 AM PST by Puckster
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To: Puckster

"back from Faith to lawlessness."

Addendum:

Also referred to as "Diversity".


5 posted on 11/13/2004 12:00:43 PM PST by Puckster
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To: glennherman
Fortunely the Presbyterian Church (USA) does not represent a majority of Presbyterians (including myself). The conservative Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) split from the main church back in the 1973 due to strong theological and doctrinal differences. The PCUSA has never recovered and is now a mere shadow of it's former self, yet still continues to preach a lot of the same heresies that led to the split.

There are a growing number of conservative "confessing" churches in the PCUSA, and it is my prayer that they will be successful in becoming the mainline of the PCUSA. Until then the PCA and the confessing churches of the PCUSA represent the largest bodies of conservative Presbyterians in the United States.

I believe that the PCA is the fastest growing protestant denomination in the country, eclipsing even the Southern Baptists which, in my opinion, are becoming more liberal in their interpretation of scripture.

6 posted on 11/13/2004 12:02:15 PM PST by P8riot (A gun is just a substitute for a penis, so when attacked by a mugger one should pull out a..........)
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To: P8riot

Fortunely = Fortunately


7 posted on 11/13/2004 12:03:17 PM PST by P8riot (A gun is just a substitute for a penis, so when attacked by a mugger one should pull out a..........)
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To: Presby Conservative

I work at PCUSA HQ in Louisville and they have had to deal with the fallout of this decision for months now. Every few weeks we more statements about it on our intranet homepage. I heard on a local radio news segment that two employees were fired for having some sort of meeting with Hezbula. Supposedly, we also received an arson threat that was postmarked from Queens.

On a brighter note, I never had more fun at work than I did on Nov. 3. God bless President Bush.


8 posted on 11/13/2004 2:43:08 PM PST by phugg
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To: Presby Conservative
a petition that is available on the Internet (look here, PCUSAers)

Could you post the url or send me an email?

I live near P'ton and can tell you much of the rot is coming from the seminary here. I was surprised to learn that this outrage started in Virginia, not New Jersey.

9 posted on 11/13/2004 2:48:34 PM PST by tsomer
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To: tsomer

here is the url for the petition

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?pcusa4&1


10 posted on 11/13/2004 3:09:41 PM PST by Presby Conservative
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To: ppaul

We keep waiting for mainline protestant theologians and ministers of a liberal stripe to apologize for having done everything that they could to support some of the most wretched, bloodstained regimes in history, such as the Mengistu tyranny in Ethiopia. Having such bloody hands they still go on TV and act like they know something about Jesus Christ.


11 posted on 11/13/2004 3:17:55 PM PST by AmericanVictory (Should we be more like them, or they like us?)
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