The Chicago Presbytery's naïve, dangerous embrace of terrorists (PCUSA)

Chicago Jewish Community Online ^ | Jan 2006 | STEVEN B. NASATIR

[Presbyterian Reporter]

Despite 9/11 and the almost numbing frequency of suicide bombings in Iraq, Israel, London. Madrid, Istanbul, Bali, and elsewhere, some people continue pedaling two discredited arguments: 1) that blame for these attacks ultimately lies with the policies or mere existence of the victims’ governments; and 2) that we must listen and can learn something of value from the terrorists themselves.

Most Americans realize that "it’s not us, it’s them," in other words, it is the terrorists, not the victims of terrorism, who are to blame. Accordingly, it is the terrorists, not us, who need to change or to be stopped. Yet some persist in arguing that the terrorists have valid complaints against us that somehow make the terrible things that they do comprehensible.

Sadly, even here in Chicago the "us, not them" approach is proving resilient in some quarters. Case in point: one prominent Chicago religious organization and its top professional not only recently met with Hezbollah, but he also asserts that there is something to learn from the group and that he is open to meeting with Hezbollah again.

Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. It has the blood of hundreds of Americans and others on its hands. Its record includes murdering 241 U.S. Marines on a peacekeeping mission in Beirut; hijacking a TWA flight and dumping a murdered American passenger onto the tarmac; bombing both the AMIA Jewish Community Center and the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 117, Jews and non-Jews alike; and killing 19 U.S. soldiers in Saudi Arabia.

Founded and armed with the help of Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah calls for the establishment of an "Islamic Republic" in Lebanon and the destruction of Israel. Hezbollah leaders refer to the U.S. as its "number one enemy"" Hezbollah’s spiritual leader has proclaimed that "we in Hezbollah are proud that America, ‘the Great Satan,’ accuses us of being a terrorist body."

Notwithstanding that deadly record and clarity of purpose, an October trip to the Middle East, co-sponsored by the Chicago Presbytery’s Middle East Task Force, included a meeting with Hezbollah. One of the participants on that trip was the Presbytery’s top professional, the Rev. Bob Reynolds.

When asked on WBEZ radio who he met with on his Middle East trip, Reynolds didn’t mention Hezbollah. Only after some relatively obscure web postings came to the attention of local Jewish groups did he acknowledge it. And then came the backpedaling and rationalizations: it wasn’t an official trip, it wasn’t supposed to be publicized, Reynolds was on leave, the Middle East Task Force doesn’t “speak" for the Presbytery (but it is funded by and sponsors trips and resolutions for the Presbytery), etc.

Demonstrating that many Presbyterians recognize how naïve and dangerous such meetings are, when a national Presbyterian group met with Hezbollah last year, the senior staff members responsible for scheduling it were fired.

Naïve? Reynolds says he now regrets the meeting because Hezbollah used it for its own political purposes. But that, among other things, is precisely what Hezbollah and such groups do. It’s what Hezbollah did a year earlier when it met with national Presbyterian leaders. Reynolds regrets that particular and predictable aspect of the meeting–but not the equally predictable validation that it gave to the terrorists.

Dangerous? Reynolds indulges in the "we have something to learn" fantasy, defending the meeting with terrorists as an opportunity to “listen carefully for how they understand and articulate their own reality." But Reynolds acknowledges that he didn’t publicly challenge Hezbollah’s "reality" of terrorism, leaving the impression that while he and we have something to learn from Hezbollah he has nothing to say to them.

Indeed, Reynolds stated that he awaits guidelines from the national church that "would help to make clear what the church’s position is with respect to violence." While Reynolds waits to hear church policy on whether violence is good or not, Hezbollah plots its next act of murder and mayhem. In fact, just days after Reynolds’s meeting, Hezbollah launched another attack against Israeli civilians. It is in these ways that naïve, dangerous meetings with terrorists are justified, fueling the horribly flawed logic that it is the victims and/or their governments who have antagonized the terrorists. That such utter nonsense holds such traction for otherwise intelligent people is another indication of terrorism’s insidious nature.

The controversy over the Hezbollah meeting, which has drawn sharp condemnation from the Chicago City Council and bipartisan groups of congressmen, is unfolding as the Chicago Presbytery considers divesting from companies doing business with the Jewish state, another divisive, tension-provoking step. We recognize that many leaders and members of the Chicago Presbytery mean well. We appreciate that many righteous Presbyterians are taking the difficult path of publicly challenging their own beloved church on these issues. But a troubling pattern, threatening the very foundation of Jewish-Presbyterian relations, is manifesting itself within the Chicago Presbytery.

As Americans we cannot countenance embracing killers of Americans who proclaim that we are their “number one enemy." As Jews we cannot countenance indulging those who, supported by Iran as Hezbollah is, are committed to destroying the only Jewish state in 2,000 years. And as historic partners with the Chicago Presbytery in so many noble causes, we cannot countenance any relationship with an institution that embraces and indulges terrorists and contemplates a form of economic warfare against the Jewish state.

Steven B. Nasatir is president of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

Credit where credit is due. Without Free Republic and the Bloggers, the main stream media would not have checked into the Hezbollah visits by the Chicago Presbyterians.

Note the following in this report: "When asked on WBEZ radio who he met with on his Middle East trip, Reynolds didn’t mention Hezbollah. Only after some relatively obscure web postings came to the attention of local Jewish groups did he acknowledge it. And then came the backpedaling and rationalizations: it wasn’t an official trip, it wasn’t supposed to be publicized, Reynolds was on leave, the Middle East Task Force doesn’t “speak" for the Presbytery (but it is funded by and sponsors trips and resolutions for the Presbytery), etc."

[NativeNewYorker]

Still can't look my local presbyterian minister in the eye...

[goodnesswins]

HA....We have a GREAT Presbyterian minister (PCAmerica)....today he quoted Mark Steyn in his sermon, and cited C. S. Lewis, and Narnia.....the Sermon was about the RESURRECTION and atheists, basically. It was great!

[NativeNewYorker]

Well, you don't live in Sodom On The Subway.

[Galveston Grl]

Quick, someone tell Abe Foxman the Presbyterians are not the "conservative" Christians who keep beating his pants off every election. Abe's friends are his enemies and his enemies are his friends. Poor Abe; he might be suffering from PatRobertsonitis.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

Still can't look my local presbyterian minister in the eye...

Why would you have to? If you're attending a Presbyterian Church USA, STOP!!! Save yourself the agony. We left the apostate ELCA years ago and are totally liberated.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.
Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking the keyword Israel.

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[buck61]

Grandma, I did the same. I will not go back untill they get this mess fixed.The PCUSA has gotten too liberal for me.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

They won't get the mess fixed. This rot exists from the top down. Just try to get these leftists weaned away from the National Council of Churches. They're totally corrupt.

[Macstone]

Here in Oregon, next door to the foiled terrorist training camp, the Presbyterian minister is also the Episcopal priest and the new local prison chaplin is a budhist. You figure why this nation has problems.

[familyop]

The Presbyterian Church is not the only church pushing against Israel and assuming to take the place of its people.

Disciples of Christ to Israel: Drop dead
http://209.157.64.201/focus/f-religion/1458942/posts

U.S. Presbyterians target five firms with Israel links
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1458765/posts

The Church Stares Into the Abyss (The dhimmitude of the Church of England)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1435084/posts

(Anti-Semitic) Anglican group urges Israel sanctions
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1430566/posts

Anglicans Call for Sanction on Investment in Israel to Uphold Justice
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1430772/posts

THE VATICAN AND THE STANDOFF AT THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY
http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp515.htm

Two United Methodist gatherings urge selective divestment from Israel (official anti-Israel United Methodist Website)
http://www.umc.org/site/c.gjJTJbMUIuE/b.886089/k.A105/Two_United_Methodist_gatherings_urge_selective_divestment_from_Israel.htm

world council of churches (WCC)
church & ecumenical relations
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/ecumenical/index-e.html
"Among those churches which are not members of the WCC, the most notable is the Roman Catholic Church (RCC). Since 1965 a Joint Working Group (JWG), co-sponsored by the WCC and the RCC, has met regularly to discuss issues of common interest and promote cooperation. The group meets annually. One of the church and ecumenical relations staff members serves as co-secretary for the JWG and helps to coordinate contact between the Council and the dicasteries of the Vatican through the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. [And] . . . Though the Roman Catholic Church is not a member of the WCC, it is a full member of the Faith & Order Commission. The RCC also serves the team on Mission & Evangelism in a consultative capacity."

[familyop]

Pope discusses Christian unity with Presbyterians
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1553831/posts

[Salem]

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[VRWCTexan]

I read somewhere - probably here on FR, that when Reynolds and his group meet with the terrorists that in order to win their confidence, he advised them upfront that he and his entire group had all voted for John Kerry!!!!

(Seriously - I'm not making this up)

[prairiebreeze]

You are correct about them rushing to assure the terrorists they'd voted for sKerry. And this is but one of a handful of meetings the church has had with terrorists, one being a seminary group full of college aged kids.

The PCUSA is losing members in droves. Liberal agenda and arrogance at the denominational level abounds.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

You are correct. When MEMRI found the quotes in a mid east newspaper, it stated the Presbyterian group were all Democrats and all 18 of them had voted for Kerry.

So much for an "unbiased" fact finding trip to the mid east!!!!

[Ciexyz]

I heard from my pastor that a lot of conflict is going on at the national level of the PCUSA. If someone stands up at a national session meeting and quotes the Bible as a basis for their arguments, other members of the Presbytery shout them down with cries of "fundamentalist" and "bigot".

[Ciexyz]

No matter what happens, the crazies and the libs are NOT gonna drive me outa my church.

[Ciexyz]

Those crazy Presbyterians (our denomination) are at it again. Pinging you for your info.

[firebrand]

I crossed Redeemer (Presbyterian) off my list of possible churches simply because a young woman who led the congregation in prayer prayed for the Iraqi people without also praying for our troops.