Posted on 08/09/2005 4:32:07 PM PDT by SJackson
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rights organization, is urging Bishop Mark Hanson and the leadership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to reject a proposed resolution by the Church’s Caribbean Synod that denies Israel’s legitimacy and calls for ELCA to push for divestment of the Jewish State. ELCA is convening its biennial Assembly in Orlando today.
"The Caribbean Synod’s proposed resolution is a major escalation in the worldwide political campaign to delegitimize Israel and is in keeping with the spirit of the 1975 UN resolution that equated Zionism with racism," charged Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center.
The language of the proposed resolution alleges "57 years" of Israeli occupation, effectively rejecting Israel’s legitimacy as a sovereign state and casting her as "tyrannical," a "colonizer" and an "occupier."
"This resolution goes way beyond any of the resolutions recently passed by the U.S. Presbyterian Church, the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ," continued Cooper. "It dispenses with politically-correct window dressing including any concern for the security of Israel or of Israel’s right to a secure future."
The Caribbean Synod’s resolution also depicts Israel’s anti-terrorism security fence as a "cement wall on confiscated Palestinian land" with no reference to the suicide bombing campaign launched by Palestinian terrorists which has killed over 1,000 Israeli citizens, the equivalent to 50,000 Americans.
"The Wiesenthal Center urges Bishop Hanson and all of the delegates to the ELCA Assembly in Orlando to reject this one-sided racist document, continued Cooper. "Its passage will not help a single Palestinian, but will damage interfaith relations. We instead urge ELCA to find proactive and positive ways to further humanitarianism and peace in the Holy Land," he concluded.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, and the Council of Europe.
Well, my emphasis is on the NCC apostate leftists. I really don't like to single churches out. There are people who have burried their head in the sand, too busy to look up at what's going on. I'm not trying to label anyone.
It is time to wake up and smell the rotting fish, that passes for leadership in some churches.
7. Caribbean Synod (9F) [2005 Memorial]
WHEREAS, Israel has illegally occupied the West Bank and Gaza
since 1967 and set up colonies and settlements, which now house nearly
420,000 Jews on Palestinian land; and
WHEREAS, these colonies and settlements violate scores of United
Nations resolutions, along with the fourth Geneva Convention; and
WHEREAS, the policies and the procedures of the Israeli
government over the past 57 years of occupation have rendered nearly
two-thirds of native Palestinians as refugees or displaced people; and
WHEREAS, the ongoing erection of a cement wall on confiscated
Palestinian land to serve as a barrier and border between Israel and
Palestine continues to reify the illegal occupation and confiscation of
Palestinian lands; and
WHEREAS, our sisters and brothers in the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Jordan and the Holy Land under Bishop Munib Younan are
crying out for our support and solidarity in finding creative ways to
resist the tyranny of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian
people; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the congregations and members of the
Caribbean Synod call and memorialize the 2005 Churchwide
Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to
enact a divestment and reinvestment initiative like those of the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Anglican Church, and the
World Council of Churches with all of its financial transactions.
‘snip’
RESOLVED, that the 2005 Virginia Synod Assembly call
on its congregations and members to work with the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America and national, state, and local
government representatives to express concerns and request
Assembly to affirm actions described in the Churchwide Strategy
for Engagement in Israel and Palestine. This strategy was
developed by the Division for Church in Society and the
Division for Global Mission, with participation from other units,
synods, and a wide variety of academics, experts in interfaith
dialogue, advocates, and participants in grassroots networks.
Background information is found in 2005 Pre-Assembly Report,
Section IV, pages 75-78, and the Churchwide Strategy is found
in Section V, pages 48-58. A summary of actions by the ELCA
and its predecessor bodies is included in the strategy.
This strategy affirms the ELCA’s commitment to
accompany its companion church in the Holy Land in mission
and calls for the development of a churchwide campaign, “Peace
Not Walls,” which encourages members, congregations, synods,
and the churchwide organization to join in this effort. It calls for,
among other things, “an end to terrorism and violence by
individuals, organizations, and states” and states that the ELCA
will express this commitment in its advocacy.
According to the strategy, one element of this advocacy will
be to explore economic initiatives, including “promoting positive
economic development in the region to help those most in need,”
“insisting that U.S. tax dollars for foreign aid be distributed to
both Palestinians and Israelis with equity and on condition that
aid be used for economic growth and humanitarian needs,”
“making consumer decisions that favor support to those in
greatest need,” and “managing collective or personal investments
with concern for their impact on the lives of all Holy Land
peoples who suffer from ongoing conflict.”
The promotion of economic initiatives can be manifested in
many forms. For example, shareholder actions including
dialogue with corporate management, filing of shareholder
resolutions, outreach to other shareholders and investment
advisors, and voting of proxies can be used to change corporate
policies or practices. Other economic initiatives include boycotts
of products and services to coerce or to express protest,
divestment, social investing, and development of social screens.
While all of these tools may be available to this church, certain
actions such as divestment are not available to the Board of
Pensions. The Board of Pensions has always taken the position
that divestment, per se, of pension accumulations is an illegal
violation of its fiduciary duties under both federal and Minnesota
law.
As an alternative to divestment, the ELCA Retirement Plan
provides eight investment fund options which are social purpose
funds. These funds apply social screens in accordance with the
values of this church and within the fiduciary responsibility the
Board of Pensions bears for its plan members. The Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America has no policy on the subject of
divestment. While certain other denominations have undertaken
certain economic initiatives, it is the policy of the ELCA that this
church does not comment on actions or matters that are internal
to other church bodies.
The 2005 Churchwide Assembly will be considering a
recommendation related to the Churchwide Strategy and the
“Peace Not Walls” campaign (2005 Pre-Assembly Report,
Section IV, pages 75-77, and Section V, pages 47-60), which
deals with many of the concerns of the synods. However, the
Metropolitan New York and Oregon Synods call on the ELCA
Churchwide Assembly to take a separate action relating to the separation wall.
http://www.elca.org/assembly/05/VotingMatters/ReportoftheMemorialsCommitteeFINAL.pdf
Also see
http://www.elca.org/advocacy/issues/middleeast/separationwall.html
http://www.elca.org/Scriptlib/CO/ELCA_News/encArticleList.asp?a=3044&p=8
http://www.elca.org/middleeast/reports/Appendix%20of%20Actions%20on%20Middle%20East.pdf
http://www.elca.org/middleeast/archived/2004July-archived.html#july24
Thanks for the post. Sounds as if this was a PLO talking point. I'll read the whole think in more depth later.
It's an epidemic among the major denominations. My Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) made the colossal blunder of passing a "sense of the assembly" motion calling for the removal of "the wall" and the provision of reparations. It was leftist through and through and the media have interpreted it as the policy of the denomination rather than just a statement made by the general assembly last month. I've been close to quitting and this doesn't help.
Agree with you -- I keep seeing the word "mainstream" used and as far as I am concerned a liberal agenda is not part of the "mainstream" -- at least not here in OK. We have so many local churches starting up that are increasing in membership while the so-called "mainstream" churches are losing members right and left.
It appears that more will follow. ...something to keep an eye on. Thank you for the information and links.
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
Alliance of Baptists Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Church of the Brethren
The Coptic Orthodox Church in North America
The Episcopal Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Friends United Meeting
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Hungarian Reformed Church in America
International Council of Community Churches
Korean Presbyterian Church in America
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
Mar Thoma Church
Moravian Church in America Northern Province and Southern Province
National Baptist Convention of America
National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc.
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America
Orthodox Church in America
Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
Polish National Catholic Church of America
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.
Reformed Church in America
Serbian Orthodox Church in the U.S.A. and Canada
The Swedenborgian Church
Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of America
United Church of Christ
The United Methodist Church See also:
The Standing Conference of Canonical
I think it was the Coptic Orthodox Church which just recently voted to leave this slimy bunch.
I just checked their website and if I'm correct, they've changed it. They lie by saying they are not political. That's all they are--political, radical lefties at that.
What do you mean you've been Lutheran for over 40 years? There's Lutheran and then there's Lutheran. There is a world of difference between the synods.
I, too, was raised "Lutheran", and it's been much longer than 40 years. I was raised Lutheran when it meant something. The same synod in which I was raised has gone through to two mergers to where it is now part of the apostate ELCA.
We left 13 years ago for a real "Lutheran" church--LCMS.
You're right. But what confuses the issue is that there are liberals attending conservative churches and there are conservatives attending liberal churches.
I can't see why some Lutheran freepers remain in an ELCA church all the while complaining about it.
I'm a baptized, confirmed Lutheran Church Missouri Synod member. I suffer no self-inflicted liberal trauma as a member of this conservative, bible-based Church.
Leni
I have a sister and brother in law who are conservatives--they left a LCMS for a United Church of Christ because they didn't like the close communion practice of the LCMS. I guess the Gia worship, pro-homosexual, pro-abortion agenda doesn't bother them nearly as much as close communion.
Israel is the only country on earth that so many, for so many years, want it to be wiped out.
Antisemitism at work.
Exactly! People need to be careful about what Baptist denomination they choose to join as well Southern and Freewill Baptists do not belong to this liberal outfit, but a lot of other Baptists in the north do belong. I had my eyes opened to the NCC during the Elian tragedy although when they combined the LCA with the two other churches I was less than thrilled -- been going more liberal ever since.
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