This page lists reports and commentary from all of September, 2004.

What has long been an important annual event in the Presbyterian Church, the Peacemaking Conference, happened again this year, August 3 - 7 in Tacoma, Washington, under the theme  “Hope for a Global Future: Let’s Pray, Let’s Act.”

It was broadened in scope this year to include issues of hunger, environmental concerns and economic justice.  And it was co-sponsored by the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, the Environmental Justice Program and the Self-Development of People Program.

Click here for the Presbyterian News Service report.

The 216th General Assembly called for conversations and studies to commemorate the centennial of the 1908 Social Creed of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. That statement engaged churches in advocating for reforms such as an end to child labor, the six-day week, occupational safety, a living wage, and other steps aimed at moving American society closer to what a "Christ-like God" was believed to want for all Americans.

Beyond celebrating the past, the action calls for looking forward with "a survey of key Christian principles to guide 21st century Presbyterians and others in addressing major and likely future concerns, such as the lack of health insurance for 44 million Americans, the outsourcing of jobs to countries without human rights or environmental safeguards, and the impact of growing economic inequality on our democracy ..."

This is obviously a project close to the heart of Witherspoon's values. As a first step toward supporting the study, Gene TeSelle offers a background paper on the Social Creed, and Chris Iosso explores some of the details of the 1908 statement, and what such a new statement might mean for us today.

This morning's e-mail brought a copy of a brief essay by novelist E.L. Doctorow, forwarded by the Rev. Christine Baker, Director of Pastoral Care at Rochester General Hospital, Rochester, NY. She said, "This is one of the most powerful and profound writings I have ever read. If it is appropriate, please post this on the Witherspoon site."

We think it's very much appropriate, so here's a taste of it, and you can click below to read the whole thing.

The essay begins:

I fault this president for not knowing what death is. He does not suffer the death of our 21-year-olds who wanted to be what they could be. On the eve of D-Day in 1944 General Eisenhower prayed to God for the lives of the young soldiers he knew were going to die. He knew what death was. Even in a justifiable war, a war not of choice but of necessity, a war of survival, the cost was almost more than Eisenhower could bear.

But this president does not know what death is. He hasn't the mind for it. ...

His conclusion provides a moral warning to the American people as a whole:

The president we get is the country we get. With each president the nation is conformed spiritually. He is the artificer of our malleable national soul. He proposes not only the laws but the kinds of lawlessness that govern our lives and invoke our responses. The people he appoints are cast in his image. The trouble they get into and get us into, is his characteristic trouble.

Finally, the media amplify his character into our moral weather report. He becomes the face of our sky, the conditions that prevail. How can we sustain ourselves as the United States of America given the stupid and ineffective warmaking, the constitutionally insensitive lawgiving, and the monarchal economics of this president? He cannot mourn but is a figure of such moral vacancy as to make us mourn for ourselves.

Originally published in the Easthampton Star, the piece is also posted on CommonDreams.org.

We'd like your comments!

Please send a note and we'll post it here - if you identify yourself in some way. (Your name is a good start; we won't ask for your Social Security number or your bank account.)

With all the discussion of the PC(USA) action to divest stock holdings in companies doing business supportive of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, Gene TeSelle offers some thoughts and questions about pension funds, which have become a part of the debate.

Brian McLaren, serving what looks like an evangelical, progressive congregation in Maryland, ponders how he can deal responsibly and prophetically with our coming election, without simply urging people to vote, or alienating them by taking sides on issues where they don't all agree.

He offers some helpful thoughts and strategies, which are posted on the Sojourners website.

Marilyn White (who has herself served time in prison for her participation in these non-violent actions) sends this invitation:

Help spread the word.
Join Us at Fort Benning, Georgia
November 19-21

Together We Will Shut Down the School of Assassins!

For over a decade, students, religious, labor, veterans, human rights, and social/global justice groups have been converging every November at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia, to speak out in solidarity with the people of the Americas and to engage in nonviolent direct action. We will gather again this year on November 20 and 21 to continue together in the struggle until the School of the Americas is closed and the policies it represents are changed forever!

The Saturday and Sunday events this year will be preceded by teach-ins, trainings, and caucuses on Friday, November 19. Continue to check the website (www.soaw.org) as plans unfold and various events are announced in more detail.

PPF has arranged for housing in Columbus and transportation from the Atlanta airport for Presbyterian participants. To join our group, contact Marilyn White at marwhite@igc.org or 281-554-2851. Arrange for your flight to arrive in Atlanta by noon on Friday, November 19 and to leave after 2:00 p.m. on Monday November 22.

Perhaps the most revolutionary item on the progressive agenda doesn't even make the top ten list: Time. For all our so-called prosperity, Americans may be some of the most overworked people in the world. Americans work nine weeks, or 350 more hours per year than their European counterparts. And sometimes, when it comes to time, activists are the least progressive of all.

Betsy Hartmann surveys this problem in Zmagazine

Just as some moderate evangelicals have reminded our nation that "God is not a Republican ... or a Democrat," a group of Catholics, led by Martin Sheen and Sister Joan Chittister OSB of Pax Christi USA, is refuting the claim that Catholics are single issue voters and reclaiming the proud Catholic tradition of social justice teaching.

Here's their call to action:

To characterize the whole content of the Catholic faith in a single issue is inappropriate and unjust. We know from our faith history that multiple social issues make up the depth and breadth of Catholic Social Teaching. Pope Pius XI wrote that being a good Catholic involved working against financial monopolies that restrict enterprise. Pope John XXIII condemned sexism, the arms race and systemic poverty. Pope John Paul II has called repeatedly for the transformation of economic structures that oppress the poor.

Yet, despite our rich history, rarely a day goes by without our politicians, the media, and even some of our own religious leaders holding up one lone issue as the litmus test for Catholics.

Are you frustrated with individuals telling you that one issue should decide your vote? If you are, join us in sending a strong message to America that our faith and our commitment to the common good are not exhausted by any one issue. Click below to add your name to "Life Does Not End at Birth," a statement that reminds politicians, church leaders and the media that we are called to vote for candidates based on the full range of issues that impact the common good:  www.faithfulamerica.org/LifeNotEndAtBirth.htm

Help mobilize a million Catholic voices for justice by supporting the publication of this statement across the country:  www.faithfulamerica.org/LifeNotEndAtBirth.htm

The statement will appear in secular and Catholic publications nationwide, reaching the millions of Catholics still struggling with their conscience and with the teachings of the church as they decide how to vote in the 2004 election.

In peace,

Martin Sheen and Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB

Rick Ufford-Chase, current Moderator of the PC(USA), is reporting on his moderatorial experiences through a web-log (blog). His latest report, on Sept. 18, came from Colombia, where he has been visiting our sister Presbyterian Church. He tells of his conversations with women and men long involved in the struggle for human rights in their strife-torn society. He goes with Milton Mejia to visit the woman who is the regional head of the government prosecutor's office, to talk about the case of Mauricio, another Presbyterian who is now in prison for his human rights work.

During the office visit, Milton receives a call telling him that Alfredo Correa de Andreis, a sociology professor in his mid-forties, has just been assassinated in the street a few blocks from where there are sitting. He had shared a prison room with Mauricio and has worked with Milton for the displaced.

So our Moderator shares in the pain of these people, brings comfort, and joins in worship that affirms hope in the midst of the terrible troubles.

Equal Partners in Faith urges progressive groups to take action

[Press release from Equal Partners in Faith, dated 9-17-04.]

The Federal Marriage Amendment, defeated in the Senate in July, is now on the docket for the House of Representatives. This bill seeks to enshrine discrimination into the U.S. Constitution. It will probably get more traction in the House than in the Senate. That is why EPF urges progressive people of faith to contact their representatives in the House and ask them not to support or endorse the Federal Marriage Amendment.

The stakes are very high. Equal Partners in Faith believes in "Equal Justice for Equal Souls" and the FMA eviscerates equality at the highest level of American Law. Please call your Congressperson and tell them that you and your organization strongly opposes passage of the Federal Amendment.

Click here to gain more information on this topic and what you can do.

Gary Dorrien, Distinguished Professor at Kalamazoo College and an Episcopal priest, offers a thorough analysis of what he sees as four distinctive perspectives shaping American foreign policy - each of them with roots in some elements of modern Christian social thought. He traces the four perspectives - liberal internationalism, realism, principled anti-interventionism, and finally what is variously called unipolarism, neoconservatism, or neo-imperialism.

CrossCurrents presents the substance of his thinking in a fairly lengthy essay, and it is also appearing in a new book.

Unless you earn more than $100,000, America is just not the place to live. Over the last 30 years, your share of GDP has gone down consistently. It used to be that your salary just didn't go up. Now, with automation and outsourcing, your job is much more likely to leave forever. Griff Witte of the Washington Post takes a hard look at what this really means for the Americans failed by the economy.

Click here for the report. [Free, one-time registration is required.}

Workers at the only maquila factory in El Salvador with a democratic trade union need your immediate support.

Just Garments was founded last year after an international campaign succeeded in reversing the closing of Tainan Enterprises' factories after workers asked for contract negotiations in 2002.  After a hard struggle, Just Garments has secured its first commercial order from No Sweat for khaki pants, which markets only union-made products.

The size of No Sweat's initial order will be determined by orders placed over the next ten days on its website at www.NoSweatShop.com. The size of the order - and therefore its impact on employment at Just Garments - depends on anti-sweatshop activists and consumers placing orders by September 24, 2004.

Precedent-setting agreement reached; Mt. Olive Pickle boycott over

After five years of a public action boycott by the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO (FLOC), it has reached a precedent setting agreement with the North Carolina Grower's Association (NCGA) and the Mount Olive Pickle Company.

The rising rates of poverty and of uninsured people in 2003

For the third consecutive year the poverty rate and the percentage of those uninsured have increased. In 2003 alone, an additional 1.3 million people fell below the poverty line. Of those, 733,000 were children. Now nearly 18 percent of children in the United States are living in poverty. Of the 35.9 million people living in poverty, 15.3 million (43 percent) are living in deep poverty - with cash incomes below half of the poverty line. This is the highest share on record.

Democratic reform in Indonesia - and how limiting foreign military financing could help the government control its military

A just foreign policy must respect human rights and should hold accountable those who violate them. Unfortunately, the United States is rewarding Indonesia, whose military has killed thousands of civilians in recent years and which dismantled a U.S.-backed ceasefire in Aceh (a province struggling for separation) by launching its largest military operation in 25 years. The U.N. stated this military (the TNI) was "responsible for the intimidation, terror, [and] killings" in neighboring East Timor. It also stands accused of murdering two U.S. teachers.

As the election draws near ...

The PC(USA) provides a variety of materials to guide churches and pastors in making their witness within the limits of the federal tax regulations for churches and other tax-exempt organizations.

And click here for some good information on our own website.

... and how to focus your congregation's political concerns

A quick look at how General Assembly actions can be found, and can be used to shape your political discussions and actions.

The New York Times, in an editorial on September 12, 2004, traces briefly and clearly the tragic failure of the current Administration's doctrine of preventive war.

The Mission recently called the Rev. Dr. Jenny Mason as an Associate Pastor. Mason was ordained in 1991, served for ten years in urban ministry in Chile, and has already been serving for some months on the CCLM staff. While the Lutheran Church (ELCA) exercises considerable latitude in matters of ordination and sexuality, this call has been challenged and is now under review by a special committee, and some economic sanctions have already been imposed on the Mission.

The Lawyer's Alliance provides guidance on how non-profit groups can express political convictions without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status. Some suggestions: Identify your group's position on issues, rather than discussing political positions of particular candidates. If you invite candidates to an event held by your group, send them a letter explicitly stating that this is not a campaign event. Don't link your group's website to political or campaign sites. It's better not to endorse (or even explicitly encourage participation in) particular political events, such as rallies, protests, and such.

A helpful visitor adds this note:

Editor:

Thank you for the article from the Lawyer's Alliance about political activity by churches. Unfortunately, in its brevity, it may give some misimpressions about what kinds of activity are dicey. I am particularly concerned that it is not precise in its discussion of "political activity." My understanding from reading the more lengthy explanations on the PC(USA) website, is that a church endangers its tax exempt status when it endorses (or even appears to endorse) a particular political candidate or party. This does not prevent a church from engaging in activism around issues or from encouraging its members to exercise the civic duty of voting, but from endorsing candidates with similar stands on those issues. A much trickier question to my mind, is what are the boundaries for a church's prophetic witness about the behavior of an elected official, when that official is running for reelection, so that the church's critique is not perceived as a political endorsement of the official's opponent.


Peace, Salaam, Shalom,
Kathleen Eschen-Pipes
Santa Cruz, CA

In a note dated September 7, 2004, Dave Hackett informs us that Rick Ufford-Chase has opened a direct-feed Web log - popularly known as a blog - to respond to the many people who have expressed interest in hearing about his moderatorial travels and experiences. The blog, named "U-C: What I See," is available online at http://www.what-i-see.blogspot.com/.

The site already has several blog entries. Rick hopes to share his thoughts and reflections every few days as he travels.

Rick invites his readers to share comments on any blog posting by clicking on the "comments" link attached to each entry. He hopes to have additional interactive features up and running soon, including a "forum" discussion group people can join and contribute their thoughts to.

Derrick Kikuchi has posted on his website (which is well worth a visit in itself) another resource on what a non-profit tax-exempt organization can and can't do in articulating its voice during this very important election year.

You can view it at reachandteach.com.

  Click here to download (free!) Adobe Reader software to view this and all PDF files.

For members, your copy will be in the mail in a week or so.  If you're not a member, we hope you'll join us -- help support what we're doing, and gain the benefits of being part of a dynamic network of progressive Presbyterians.  (And besides, you don't want to be a freeloader, do you?!)

The Lawyer's Alliance provides guidance on how non-profit groups can express political convictions without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status. Some suggestions: Identify your group's position on issues, rather than discussing political positions of particular candidates. If you invite candidates to an event held by your group, send them a letter explicitly stating that this is not a campaign event. Don't link your group's website to political or campaign sites. It's better not to endorse (or even explicitly encourage participation in) particular political events, such as rallies, protests, and such.

Witherspooner Dugan Frederick of Denver sends this suggestion:

In case you do not know about this website, you may be interested in this one. I find it to be excellent and full of thought-provoking information in the various links.

The website offers links to many of the current progressive theologians and issues, with the aim of offering insights from academic theological thought for those who are interested in moving beyond their traditional views to "more substantial" current views.

Turning Points: Stories of Life and Change in the Church is a documentary about Presbyterians struggling with the denomination's current ordination standards. This hour-long, four-part story with a study guide is suitable for use in adult education classes, pre-presbytery workshops, session meetings -- wherever the church gathers for study and discernment of God's call to the church today.

In a new release from Fortress Press, biblical scholar John J. Collins asks tough questions about the relationship between the portrayals of violence in the Bible and how they have been used throughout history. This work, Does the Bible Justify Violence, is based on his Presidential Address to the Society of Biblical Literature.

Theologian Doug Ottati considers our human tendency to prefer "utilitarian religion" -- using God as a guarantor of getting our way.

Take a look at it if you're thinking about joining us -- and print a few to share with friends!

Someone has asked that we repost a book review that we originally posted in 2000.  Given our church's commitment to racial and cultural diversity, you may find it helpful too.

Gene TeSelle provides a thoughtful look at an urban anthropologist's analysis of a very racially diverse neighborhood in New York City. Roger Sanjek's The Future of Us All: Race and Neighborhood Politics in New York City draws on a ten-year study to provide a realistic picture of the difficulties in building a multicultural community in the face of political and other pressures.  But he also shows that it can be done. 

From this ten-year study he draws a realistic picture of the difficulties in building a multicultural community in the face of political and other pressures.  But he also shows that it can be done.

The Liberty Bell is still cracked,
but we can do things to make repairs.

Responding creatively to the concerns expressed by Jewish individuals and organizations, by Presbyterians and others about what have been called "anti-Semitic" actions by the 216^th General Assembly, the PC(USA) has established a very helpful website.

The Moderator of the 216^th General Assembly, Rick Ufford-Chase, has recently been published in Christian Century - a powerful statement entitled "Dying to Get In," on the crisis on the Mexican border, as more and more would-be migrants die in the heat of the desert trying to find a decent life for themselves in the U.S. He cites "No More Deaths" (www.nomoredeaths.org) as one sign of hope on the border, as church people organize to offer help to migrants by going to them in the desert.

He has also written about the loud criticisms of the General Assembly actions in relation to Israel and Judaism.

The PC(USA) website has posted one of his responses, and the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta has one as well.

Kathleen Eschen-Pipes begins her note: 

I join in applauding the recent decisions of the General Assembly regarding Israel and Palestine. I am particularly relieved that the Mission Responsibility Through Investment committee will be divesting my pension funds from companies that profit from the suffering of innocent Israelis and Palestinians.

Buses to Washington will be organized, and local demonstrations will also be planned. Their web site is www.millionworkermarch.org.