Posted on 08/06/2005 1:37:56 PM PDT by Graybeard58
LOUISVILLE-BASED DENOMINATION COULD VOTE TO DIVEST STOCK
The Presbyterian Church USA announced yesterday that it would press four American corporations to stop providing military equipment and technology to Israel for use in the occupation of the Palestinian territories, and said that if the companies do not comply the church will take a vote on divesting its stock in them.
The companies -- Caterpillar, Motorola, ITT Industries and United Technologies -- were selected from a list of several dozen possibilities by a church investment committee that met yesterday in Seattle. The Presbyterians accused these companies of selling everything from helicopters to cell phones to night vision equipment that Israel uses to enforce its occupation.
In an effort to appear even-handed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the church committee also included on its list of potential divestment targets a fifth corporation, Citigroup, alleging it had a connection to a bank accused of having a role in funneling money from Islamic charities to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. The Presbyterians say they included Citigroup because it was mentioned in an article in The Wall Street Journal.
A spokeswoman for Citigroup called the church's assertion "an outrage," a reaction echoed by spokesmen at several of the other corporations the church had named. The church made its announcement late yesterday afternoon, and several corporate spokesmen did not respond to phone calls.
The Presbyterian Church USA, headquartered in Louisville and the nation's largest Presbyterian denomination, is in the forefront of a campaign now spreading to other mainline Protestant churches to use corporate divestment as a tactic in the Middle East conflict, a tactic that is roiling relations with Jewish groups.
The Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ and two regions of the United Methodist Church, as well as international groups like the World Council of Churches and the Anglican Consultative Council have all endorsed divestment or economic pressure campaigns in recent months, though the tone and emphasis of their resolutions vary. The Disciples of Christ passed a resolution last month calling on Israel to tear down the barrier it has built to wall off the occupied territories, and other churches are considering similar resolutions.
Some Jewish groups accuse the churches of singling out Israel for blame and failing to address the Palestinians' role in the perpetuating the violence. Several have even said they see anti-Semitism behind the churches' moves.
The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church USA, said, "It's not a campaign to divest from the state of Israel. We're fully committed to the state of Israel. But it is a campaign to divest from particular activities that are doing damage and creating injustice and violence, whether that's the building of the separation barrier, construction related to the occupation, or weapons and materials that lead to suicide bombings."
Divestment was used successfully by many American churches in the 1980s to press the South African government to end apartheid. But applying the tactic to Israel has alarmed many American Jewish groups and caused a breach in what has been a long-term alliance between Jews and mainline Protestant churches, like the Presbyterians, with liberal political leanings. In decades past, Jewish and Protestant groups have worked together on a range of social issues, from racism to global poverty to women's rights.
"This is a brilliantly organized political campaign to hurt Israel, and it's not going to help a single Palestinian," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a human rights group based in Los Angeles. "When you look at the list of companies, this is basically a recipe for Israel to disarm."
The Presbyterian Church owns hundreds of thousands of shares of stock in the five companies through both its pension fund for retired church workers and through church foundations. The Presbyterian Church's committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment has brought similar economic pressure against other companies accused of abetting human rights abuses in countries like China, Sudan, Burma, Nigeria and Guatemala. But church staff members said this was the first time it has focused on companies doing business in Israel.
?...Presbyterians tell U.S. companies to stop arming Israel
...'ECT' to rule the WHOLE world!?
I'm glad I'm a Baptist, we like arming everybody and their brother to the teeth.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but what you want is worth [ sentence deleted to prevent a certain ban].
Delusional twits!
Jesus said that his Kingdom was not of this world, but apparently the Kingdom of the Presbyterians is, and it does seem so. I think that they may be more political than religious.
I agree, they are more political than religious. Maybe now is a good time to remove their tax free exemption status. If they wanna play at politics, let 'em, just not on my dime.
LOL
The Presbyterians also equate armed self-defense with murder.
Just another case of the clergy being dumber that a bunch of posts.
The Presbyterians also equate armed self-defense with murder.
Just another case of the clergy being dumber that a bunch of posts.
Let 'em sell all they want...some smart money manager will step into this buying opportunity and the only losers will be the Presbyterian Church leadership (and I am confident they don't accurately reflect their rank and file members)
I'll bet if the IRS sent them a little note asking if Presbyterian was still a religion, therefore exempted from paying taxes, or have they switched to politics and cannot suckle on the teat of taxpayers any longer, they'd jump back to Jesus in a heartbeat, and Israel would have a new best friend.
"I'll bet if the IRS sent them a little note asking if Presbyterian was still a religion, therefore exempted from paying taxes, or have they switched to politics and cannot suckle on the teat of taxpayers any longer, they'd jump back to Jesus in a heartbeat, and Israel would have a new best friend."
I assume your kidding or just not thinking straight. If this is where you set the bar for removal of tax exempt status, you can pretty well kiss all denominations status good bye. They all have their pet issues, but they are ALL active politically.
Sometimes I think straight. Maybe we should sick(sp?) the ACLU on them for violating the seperation of church and state.
Back when, when I used to attend church everytime the doors opened, I never once in the thousands of times being there, did I ever hear our preacher say anything other than about religion. Not once.
please sell. I like buying cheap stock.
This is PCUSA.....NOT PCAmerica.....just a reminder...
Pro israel Christian right are the rightious gentiles that James the Just accepted into the fold.
Anti -Semitic Presbyterians are the dogs Jesus refrred to.
Ain't that the truth. The lines are blurring.
They ought to reread the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans. It is absolutely clear about why the Jews had to make an orphan of Jesus (for our sake, dipsticks). These dudes ain't gonna be happy when Jesus asks them about this stuff.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.