Lights for Dignity  

A number of religious and other groups are encouraging people of faith and good will to reflect on "how we can demonstrate compassion to all victims of violence and foster reconciliation within our human community." As a public demonstration of this concern, they invite people to leave on the lights in their homes and houses of worship, through the night of Sunday, May 30^th, into the morning of May 31^st, Memorial Day.

Click here for details.

Charles Henderson, Presbyterian minister and "your editor and guide" for the "Christianity - General" section of About.com, offers creative thoughts on what we might celebrate as Memorial Day coincides with Pentecost.

Associated Press reported on May 25 that "gay activists in Virginia are toying with a new motto for the state: 'Virginia is for lovers. Some restrictions apply.'" The legislature is considering an amendment to the law which already bans same-sex marriage, to extend that ban to civil unions, partnership contracts and other "arrangements between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage."

This study and policy document will be an important item of business for the 216th General Assembly. An earlier draft was substantially rewritten in response to criticisms at last year's General Assembly, orchestrated by the conservative Institute on Religion and Democracy.

The Rev. Dr. Barbara Gaddis, a family therapist, served on the Task Force that drafted the original document, and we have asked her to comment on this revised version.

On Friday, May 28, 2004 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), NOW with Bill Moyers takes viewers inside the hardscrabble world of two migrant families trying to break out. One is a family of migrant farm workers who are forced to choose between barely earning a living in the fields or educating their kids. The other is a grandmother who's starting her life over again after the factory where she worked shut down and moved to Mexico.

NOW correspondent Michele Mitchell examines this unique cycle of poverty and looks at the potential outcomes of a public policy debate that may mean the difference for the nation's poorest workers.

Observing Memorial Day

Thanks to the Presbyterian Washington Office for this information 

The number of migrant deaths along the US/Mexico border is significantly higher this year as compared to those in the first five months of 2003. A large number of faith-based groups, including many Presbyterian churches in the Tucson area, have begun the No More Deaths movement in Arizona to protest US border policy and to bring attention to the skyrocketing numbers of persons dying in our deserts each year.

With coffee prices plummeting, there is more need than ever to send more revenue back to farmers and communities in crisis. Co-op America's Fair Trade Supermarket Campaign calls on individuals and communities across the country to get involved in grassroots action to make supermarket shelves full to the brim with Fair Trade Certified coffee.

The Land Research Action Network (LRAN) is launching a new website, www.landaction.org, devoted to land reform struggles throughout the world.

This new website provides easy access to the latest news articles, research papers and periodic updates on past and current struggles for genuinely progressive land reform. Coverage includes topics on land reform such as land titling for women, violence against land reform activists, agribusiness, the World Bank and grassroots land reform movements.

Their short statement says:

WAND calls on Congress and the administration to establish a clear and coherent plan for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq and the handover of control to Iraqis. We must replace U.S. combat troops with international peacekeeping forces according to a timetable that begins immediately and proceeds without delay. Insistence that we stay the course in Iraq implies that our course is a viable one. U.S. ambitions to transform Iraq into a model pro-western democracy have failed.

The New York Times, in a May 22 story, carried an extensive look at the growing power of the right in the Presbyterian Church, particularly through the work of the Institute on Religion and Democracy. The same group, with strong funding from conservative foundations and other donors, pushed the United Methodist annual convention toward the right a few weeks ago.

IRD's Presbyterian director, Alan Wisdom, told the Times that his representatives will "be there in force" at the Presbyterian General Assembly. According to the reporters, they will be "calling attention to any liberal positions coming out of the church, distributing position papers to delegates and lobbying them in a conservative direction."

One of the first acts of the 216th General Assembly will be the election of a new Moderator. To help our readers weigh this important choice, the Witherspoon Society has asked each of the three candidates to respond briefly to five questions that reflect Witherspoon concerns — and, we believe, concerns of the wider church.

With thanks to the candidates for their cooperation in responding, we are happy to share their comments here -- listed in alphabetical order.

The Rev. Milton Mejia, the executive secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia, has asked U.S. Christians to mount a letter-writing campaign to protest the government's targeting of church leaders who defend Colombians whose rights have been violated.

Liberals need to get beyond the story of being victims

After all the disasters that current Administration policies are creating, it seems odd that polls still show a rather close race between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry. Joshua Wolf Shenk, a former editor of The Washington Monthly, suggests in a Mother Jones article that the presumptive Democratic candidate has yet to present a story as gripping and convincing as the Bush story of a battle between good and evil.

"Perhaps the fundamental problem for the left," says Shenk, "is that it has long defined itself in opposition to the powerful. But it needs a story that is consistent with exercising power, and taking action. And it does have a powerful, true story to tell."

On Sunday, May 16^th, on the eve of the legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts, the Right Rev. Steven Charleston, Episcopal bishop and now President and Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, offered remarks at an interfaith celebration sponsored by the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry.

Titling his talk "Behold, I am doing a new thing," Charleston called the occasion a time for celebrating three things:

First, we celebrate a victory of freedom over oppression. We celebrate justice. The dawn of a new hope for justice for millions of people who have been denied equality before the law. ... Secondly, we have come to celebrate a victory of love over fear. We celebrate marriage. We honor the beauty, the dignity, the holiness of two human beings who make a life-long vow to love, cherish, and support one another. ... Finally, we come to celebrate a victory of human dignity over blind prejudice. We celebrate community. We celebrate a new unity -- not just between couples -- but between whole communities who have joined together to proclaim that we choose love, not hate; freedom, not fear; respect, not bigotry. Tonight is not just a celebration for gay, Lesbian, bi, or transgendered people, but for all people.

The right-wing Institute for Religion and Democracy had a hand in the Methodist Annual Conference's votes against LGBT ordination. Even as they won a number of votes, conservatives continued to talk of "an amicable divorce," in much the same way as some Presbyterian conservatives say they are seeking "gracious separation."

FREEDOM RIDES 2004 - JUNE 9th thru JUNE 25th 2004!

Two more contributions to our conversation on the atrocities at Abu Ghraib

Prof. Earl Tilford argues back at the comments by Jonathan Justice, and Pat Lucy, a Commissioned Lay Pastor and jail chaplain, shares his sermon on the relevance of Jesus' saying "my peace I give to you."

More than just "a few bad apples"

A few days ago your WebWeaver offered some thoughts on the deep roots of the brutal mistreatment of detainees in Abu Ghraib Prison, involving the false quasi-theological assumptions of the current administration in Washington.

A new article just posted by Newsweek International provides strong evidence of just how clearly the practice of torture in Iraq reflects the values and policies of the US administration.

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Jonathan Justice comments (in part responding to the letter from Dr. Earl Tilford) on the broader dimensions of the mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib. He sees the US military effort as seriously inadequate for the huge task (including cultural and religious conflict) assigned to them.

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Torture at Abu Ghraib:

More than just "a few bad apples"

A few days ago your WebWeaver offered some thoughts on the deep roots of the brutal mistreatment of detainees in Abu Ghraib Prison, involving the false quasi-theological assumptions of the current administration in Washington.

A new article just posted by Newsweek International provides strong evidence of just how clearly the practice of torture in Iraq reflects the values and policies of the US administration.

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The Witherspoon Award for Creative Scapegoating:

Religious Right leaders blame Iraqi prison abuse scandal on MTV

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Fellowship of Reconciliation urges people contact Congress

FOR sees the torture of detainees in Abu Ghraib as reflecting the US administration's "demonization of the Arab and Muslim world since Sept 11, 2001." They conclude: "The "enemy" holds no monopoly on evil and "our side" no monopoly on good."

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A visitor comments on the resolution passed by the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, on the abuse of detainees in Iraq.

In an ecumenical pastoral letter, leaders of the National Council of Churches USA and its 36 Protestant and Orthodox member communions call for a change of course in Iraq. Their goal, they agree, is peace and a renunciation of violence as contrary to the will of God. "In a sinful world, some of us may hold that there may be times when war is a necessary evil," they write. "But Christians should never identify violence against others with the will of God and should always work to prevent and end it." They call on the United States "to turn over the transition of authority and post-war reconstruction to the United Nations - and to recognize U.S. responsibility to contribute to this effort generously through security, economic, and humanitarian support - not only to bring international legitimacy to the effort, but also to foster any chance for lasting peace." The NCC encourages local churches to read the pastoral letter aloud in services during the coming month.

Click here for the full text of the letter and the signatories.

Prayer

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it's even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that should be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection; no pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the church's mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something and do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it's a beginning -- a step along the way.

It's an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the result.

But that's the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are the workers, not master builders.

We are the ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future that is not our own.

Amen.

This prayer is attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was assassinated in El Salvador.

It came to us from Witherspooner Arch Taylor in Louisville, who received it from the General Presbyter of the Presbytery of Mid-Kentucky.

Women's ministries most affected.

28 workers lose jobs under plan approved by GAC panel. Click here for the list of people who have been dismissed.

Gene TeSelle, Witherspoon's Issues Analyst, examines many of the studies, overtures, and other items that will be considered during the 116th General Assembly in Richmond.

We've received many comments on our recent postings about US actions in Abu Ghraib and other detainment facilities in Iraq.  We are grateful for all of the responses, and will post them as quickly as we can.  Here's the first installment.

For our earlier postings:

Douglas A. Johnson, as executive director of the Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis, knows about torture from working with the many victims of torture who have come to the Center from around the world for rehabilitation and healing.

They continue:

"Republicans, Democrats, and internationally respected humanitarian and human rights organizations agree: the abuses committed in U.S. military prisons in Iraq are systemic, and the responsibility for them reaches to the highest levels of leadership. An independent investigation is required to determine the extent of and persons responsible for these crimes - including military police and intelligence officials, the CIA, and independent military contractors. The system that allowed these abuses to occur cannot be trusted to fully correct them."

Four All Who Reed and Right
You think the world is a bit mad these days?
For relief, take a couple minutes to enjoy the innocent madness of the English language. In poetry, yet!

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes;
but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.

... and there's more!

These are huge questions raised for us by a monstrous violation of humanity. We make no pretense to provide answers at this early point, but we offer a few thoughts from your WebWeaver, and a variety of other resources you may find helpful.

On April 30, 2004, the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Synod of the Covenant (Ohio and Michigan) of the Presbyterian Church (USA) ruled that the Constitution does not prohibit same-sex marriages and that "the decision of the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of Cincinnati is reversed and the rebuke of Rev. Van Kuiken is removed."

The much-debated report on changing American families has been posted on the PC(USA) website as a 50-page document in pdf format.

Some 60 former U.S. diplomats and other government officials who served overseas have signed a letter to President George W. Bush, protesting his support for the Israeli government's position in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The letter was inspired by a similar protest signed by 52 former British ambassadors and senior government officials and sent to Prime Minister Tony Blair last week. That letter warned that Blair's strong support for Bush's policies in both Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were "doomed to failure."

The US diplomats' letter, which applauded their British colleagues' initiative, is focused far more on the Israel-Palestinian issue, noting in particular Bush's Apr. 14 endorsement of Sharon's plan to unilaterally withdraw Israeli settlers from the Gaza strip while consolidating five large settlement blocs on the West Bank.

United Methodist Church endorses the boycott
Notre Dame delays renewal of contract with Taco Bell

29 Firms Make 100 Best Corporate Citizens List Five Years in a Row