AF_Vet, I was going back over some of my old posts, and re-read this post by you, when I noticed what appeared to be an attempt by some group to smear all Presbyterians by insinuating they were somehow the same as the goofy, liberal Presbyterian USA bunch. "The Clarion Project complains that the Presbyterian Church partnered with Islamists and those Islamists want to make the church their “Islamophobia” police. The Presbyterian Church (USA) and its Islamic interfaith partners have also made common cause when it comes to Israel. The Church almost voted in favor of divestment from Israel last summer, winning praise from the director of ISNA’s Office of Interfaith Relations, Sayyid Syeed." The reason I am asking is because you, like the Clarion Group, did not distinguish the "church" that ordains homosexuals and women, with the traditional, reformed church that has been around for centuries. The half-hearted "USA" in parentheses, after first claiming the culprit was "the Presbyterian Church," leads me to believe this is simply another attempt to destroy the church from within by the Father of Lies. I assume that was not your intention. Would it not be prudent to exercise caution when choosing articles from outside sources with unknown or hidden agendas? You know as well as I how useful the anti-semite smear has been to Satan in recent years. What was once a useful label has been turned into a tool of hate and destruction by Satan and his anti-christian forces. Thanks, Philip Presbyterianism, a religious movement begun in the 1500s largely based on the theology of John Calvin and John Knox. There does not seem to be one Presbyterian Church, but rather seems to be organized along national boundaries. In the United States it seems to keep re-inventing itself by serially splitting and re-forming. At number 10, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is the largest of the Presbyterian denominations in this country. The USA seems to be the national designation for it. The other seceding entities do not seem to be large enough to make the top 25. When I previously asked you if your Presbyterian church supported the boycott of Israel you declined to respond. Fast Facts about American Religion indicates the following:
- Largest 25 Denominations/Communions from the 2012 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.
- Total church membership reported in the 2012 Yearbook is 145,691,446 members, down 1.15 percent over 2011. 1. The Catholic Church 68,202,492, [ranked 1 in 2011] , down 0.44 percent. 2. Southern Baptist Convention 16,136,044, [ranked 2 in 2011] , down 0.15 percent. ** Since the 2010 census of nondenominational/independent congregations, we now know that this grouping of churches, if taken together, would be the second largest Protestant group in the country with over 35,000 congregations and over 12,200,000 adherents. 3. The United Methodist Church 7,679,850, [ranked 3 in 2011] , down 1.22 percent. 4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 6,157,238, [ranked 4 in 2011], up 1.62 percent. 5. The Church of God in Christ 5,499,875, [ranked 5 in 2011] , no update reported. 6. National Baptist Convention , U.S.A. , Inc. 5,197,512, [ranked 6 in 2011] , up 3.95 percent. 7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 4,274,855, [ranked 7 in 2011] , down 5.90 percent. 8. National Baptist Convention of America , Inc. 3,500,000, [ranked 8 in 2011] , no update reported. 9. Assemblies of God 3,030,944, [ranked 9 in 2011] , up 3.99 percent. 10. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 2,675,873, [ranked 10 in 2011] , down 3.42 percent. 11. African Methodist Episcopal Church 2,500,000, [ranked 11 in 2011] , no update reported. 12. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America 2,500,000, [ranked 11 in 2011] , no update reported. 13. The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod (LCMS) 2,278,586, [ranked 13 in 2011] , down 1.45 percent. 14. The Episcopal Church 1,951,907, [ranked 14 in 2011] , down 2.71 percent. 15. Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. 1,800,000, ranked 15 [ranked 17 in 2011] , up 20 percent. 16. Churches of Christ 1,639,495, [ranked 15 in 2011] , no update reported. 17. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America 1,500,000 , [ranked 16 in 2011] , no update reported. 18. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church 1,400,000, [ranked 18 in 2011] , no update reported. 19. American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. 1,308,054, [ranked 19 in 2011] , down 0.19 percent. 20. Jehovah’s Witnesses 1,184,249, [ranked 20 in 2011] , up 1.85 percent. 21. Church of God ( Cleveland , Tennessee ) 1,074,047, [ranked 22 in 2011] , down 0.21 percent. 22. Christian Churches and Churches of Christ 1,071,616, [ranked 23 in 2011] , no update reported. 23. Seventh-day Adventist Church 1,060,386, [ranked 24 in 2011] , up 1.61 percent. 24. United Church of Christ 1,058,423, [ranked 21 in 2011], down 2.02 percent. 25. Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. 1,010,000, [ranked 25 in 2011 ], no update reported. Total membership in top 25 churches: 145,691,446, down 1.15 percent.
Thanks for the Church stats.
>>>When I previously asked you if your Presbyterian church supported the boycott of Israel you declined to respond.<<<
I don’t generally support any boycotts crossing national boundaries. Recall the history of my people, for which some international Jewish big-shots organized an international boycott against Germany in the early 1930’s that turned the entire German nation against the Jews. We saw how that ended.
That said, I didn’t feel a need to respond to any loaded question. On a similar note, you never answered my loaded question about your love for the Jews, when I asked, “which Jews?” If you recall I segregated my questions by race and religion, so you could pick and choose.
Philip