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

For items archived from January 2005, click here.

Millions of lives are on the line. The U.S. government can lead billions of dollars of aid into the tsunami relief effort, if it chooses. Let Congress and the President know that Americans are supporting strong leadership in this relief effort. 

They also take note of the fact that "Indonesia, by far the hardest hit country, is also the world's largest Muslim nation. Their estimated death toll stands at 85,000 -- in some areas, 1 out of 4 people have already been killed. Now it's time for America to show its true colors. We want to be known as a nation that leads the world with compassion, generosity, and community -- not with disastrous foreign military adventures. We are a nation that values human life, family, and extending freedom and opportunity to where it is most needed. We must now reach out in a serious way to do just that."

Presbyterians join in sending relief aid to areas devastated by tsunami

May peace and joy come to you in this holy season --

and may God's Spirit move all of us to new efforts for peace and justice in God's world.

We hope you'll enjoy some of the reflections for Advent and Christmas that we've posted here.

Marthame and Elizabeth Sanders, Presbyterian mission co-workers in Palestine, write from their years of living in Palestine:

As we write this to you, we are still in Advent, a period of waiting and hoping and preparing, a time of expectation. Our years living in the West Bank have made Advent a season that resonates deeply with us. People there know waiting: waiting at the checkpoint, waiting for military closures to lift, waiting for peace. They know preparing: stocking up for curfew, anticipating loss, fearing for the worst. They also know hoping: hoping to arrive at their destination, hoping to survive, hoping for the future of their children.

It is the hope that constantly amazes us.

A group of seven members of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) visited a number of countries in the Middle East, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Israel and Egypt, from October 14 through 31, 2004.

Some aspects of their visit gave raise to a large outcry from Jewish leaders and from some Presbyterians, and led to the dismissal of two members of the Presbyterian national staff who took part in the trip. We expect to hear - and post - more about that in due time.

The group has now presented a brief report listing some of their major experiences and learnings, which may remind us that they were in that area of the world for deeper reasons than the current debates might suggest.

The report is available on the PC(USA) website, in PDF format.
  Click here to download (free!) Adobe Reader software to view this and all PDF files.

For background:

The Rev. John Mann, who was recently called to serve a church in Glasgow, Scotland, after years as a minister in the PC(USA), has been deeply involved in ministering to and standing with Rose Gentle, whose son was killed in Iraq in June, 2004.

Matters such as dialogue with "the enemy" should be left to the state

We recently posted a note from Gordon Shull raising questions about the action of the national leadership of the PC(USA) in dismissing two national staff members because of events that occurred during the visit of a Presbyterian delegation to the Middle East.

It includes reflections on the presidential election, and observations on the actions of the PC(USA) in relation to Israel/Palestine, divestment ... and much more!

It's also available right here in Adobe Reader format, and we'll be posting a number of the articles in html format over the next few days.

Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase, writing in Presbyterian Outlook, invites us to consider the radical Christian call to non-violence. Facing the violence and counter-violence of our time, he proposes "a third way, the way of the cross, to respond to the fear we feel and the violence that overwhelms us in the world today. This is the kind of security that comes from upside-down, Gospel-inspired thinking. Security, in Jesus'' world, comes not at the point of a gun that protects us from our enemies but from the peace that can only be achieved when we all feel secure."

A Voice Was Heard in Ramah
A hymn for December 26^th

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) does mission in partnership with our Christian brothers and sisters around the world. By joining with people who are part of the universal, or ecumenical church, and listening to their experiences, we broaden our perspective as we seek God's will.

Presbyterians hear from our ecumenical partners in many ways. During the 216th General Assembly (2004), commissioners heard from our Palestinian Christian partners about the realties of life in their region of the world. Their experiences were part of what inspired commissioners to take action to help bring a just peace to the region.

Beyond considering the statements of the General Assembly, Presbyterians are called to hear the stories of our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters through listening and mutual respect. In this way, we gain a shared understanding so that we can work together to seek God's will.

We've received two email notes encouraging people to protest the war on Inauguration Day - not by marching but by not spending money.

We've added some events that may be of interest to people concerned about faith, society, and justice.
Thanks to Gene TeSelle

We've received one general comment on our website. The author wants to see it posted, so here it is.

Do Not Be Afraid

The angels stayed on message:  "Do not fear!"  Peter Sawtell, out of his own theological and spiritual depth and his work as Executive Director of Eco-Justice Ministries, reflects on the pressures on us to be afraid, and some of the steps that can lead us through fear.

Hyping Terror For Fun, Profit - And Power

Thom Hartmann, writing for Common Dreams, relates the contents of a three-hour documentary aired in October by BBC, which claims to offer evidence that the threat of the Cold War was kept alive in the 1970s, following Richard Nixon's departure from the White House and his replacement by Gerald Ford, long after there was no real danger. The threat was unsubstantiated reports of "weapons of mass destruction," for which no evidence was ever produced. The chief proponents of the SMD threat were Ford's Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and his Chief of Staff Dick Cheney. They did this "by claiming that the Soviets had secret weapons of mass destruction that the president didn't know about, that the CIA didn't know about, that nobody but them knew about. And, they said, because of those weapons, the US must redirect billions of dollars away from domestic programs and instead give the money to defense contractors for whom these two men would one day work."

The BBC asked Dr. Anne Cahn, a member of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency during that time, about the claimed threats. She said, "I would say that all of it was fantasy."

But it did the job: keeping the American people in a state of fear, keeping the military budget high, and the government's control reinforced.

Bruce Gillette sends this note:

In the name of Jesus Christ Almighty, why are people representing our government, paid by us, writing filth on the Korans of helpless prisoners? Is this American? Is it Christian? What are our moral values? Where are the clergymen on this?

In the past couple days we've received two provocative comments on the state of U.S. troops in Iraq, and how we might be genuinely supportive of them.

Help them see options

Mike Kress, an Air Force veteran (1987-'94) who served in the Persian Gulf (Operation Southern Watch) and left the military as a conscientious objector, urges peace groups to work with young people who are being targeted for military recruitment, and with men and women currently in the military, to help them see other options than the "spiraling cycle of violence" now being carried on in Iraq.

This is posted on the Common Dreams website.  Thanks to Kathy Conner for pointing us to it.

Be really helpful

And Susan Lenfestey, a Minneapolis writer, suggests that we might support our troops in ways more useful than those "now-ubiquitous support-our-troops vinyl ribbons" that we see on so many gas-guzzling SUVs. For instance, she people might contribute for the legal defense of the eight soldiers who are challenging the Army's action to extend their service in Iraq well beyond the time that they agreed. Or, she asks, might it mean "visiting some of the 10,000 wounded and maimed soldiers in a veterans hospital near you?" That might be difficult, since the government doesn't really want us to know they're there.

This Friday, December 17th, will be Bill Moyers' last TV program. This Baptist preacher is finishing his work on PBS-TV's "Now with Bill Moyers" and plans to do some writing. He has been honored with more than 30 Emmys and 10 Peabody awards.

As encouragement, here's a bit from a recent speech that he gave on receiving Harvard Medical School's Global Environment Citizen Award

....I read all this and look up at the pictures on my desk, next to the computer - pictures of my grandchildren: Henry, age 12; of Thomas, age 10; of Nancy, 7; Jassie, 3; Sara Jane, nine months. I see the future looking back at me from those photographs and I say, 'Father, forgive us, for we know not what we do.' And then I am stopped short by the thought: 'That's not right. We do know what we are doing. We are stealing their future. Betraying their trust. Despoiling their world. And I ask myself: Why? Is it because we don't care? Because we are greedy? Because we have lost our capacity for outrage, our ability to sustain indignation at injustice? What has happened to out moral imagination? ....

Read the whole speech on Common Dreams.  

You may want to let friends know about this show.

Some recent items:

One person has communicated to the PCJCR a strong concern about the use of the official logo of the PC(USA) on the PCJCR website.

Mary Ann Lundy, formerly a member of the staff of the General Assembly Council, and of the World Council of Churches, sent a note to progressive friends about a month ago, and it has just found its way to us. She speaks as one who's been there, done that. Or had that done to her, since she was fired from her GAC position in the aftermath of the 1993 ReImagining Conference.

Scott Nesbitt, a frequent visitor here, shares his effort to get CBS and NBC to reverse their decision to ban the United Church of Christ commercial.

The Peace committee of Wabash Valley Presbytery has made a proposal for a national campaign to reduce the cost of health care.

The New American Dream program offers "three tips for living consciously this holiday season."

Briefly, they suggest: Spend time instead of just money; tune out on phones and computers, tune in to nature and people; count your blessings.

Read more.

And the Global Exchange Sweatshop-Free Team suggests an on-line store where you can order sweat-free gift items, clothing, and more. The also point you to a list of companies that buy only products made by workers organized in a democratic union or worker-owned cooperative. 

Syrian and Lebanese church upset by PCUSA firings

The Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon sent a message to the Presbyterian Church (USA) warning that churches abroad are interpreting a decision to fire two top officials as buckling to appease the U.S. Jewish community that is already angered by a General Assembly action.

A Presbyterian minister comments on the concerns raised yesterday by Gordon Shull:

Thank you for raising several important questions. I'm glad to know that there are other Presbyterians seeking more information and discussion about this issue.

Kathleen Eschen-Pipes
Santa Cruz, CA

Witherspooner Bill LeMosy sends a poem - a lament, a confession, a prophetic denunciation of our times

The National Council of Churches website offers these current news items

Some questions and concerns about this action are shared by Gordon Shull -- questions about what happened, and concerns about values such as seeking to communicate with the one called "enemy," and about our integrity as a church when we allow the government or other groups to dictate the terms of our working for peace and justice. 

The Social Justice Biennial Conference
Presbyterian Health, Education & Welfare Association (PHEWA)
in partnership with the Office of Women's Advocacy.

Following the 2004 presidential election, Dr. Arch Taylor wrote an essay exploring the main characteristics of American evangelical religion as it may have impacted the election.

Discussion (a word which may be a bit mild) continues about Israel, Palestine, and statements made by the 2004 General Assembly, especially suggesting that the PC(USA) divest stocks it holds in Caterpillar, Inc.

We have already provided a variety of resources that you can find on another page.

A group in Somerville, Massachusetts, is working at the local level to get their city to withdraw its money from companies that help Israel commit extensive and ongoing human rights violations.

They have submitted a Socially Responsible Investment Resolution to the Somerville Board of Alderman, with 8 out of 11 Aldermen co-sponsoring it.

The co-sponsors are now being pressured to withdraw their support, and the group is urging people to encourage those people to stand firm in their commitment to justice.

Sheila Provencher, a member of a Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq, offers a graphic description of life in Baghdad.  She begins:

Iraq feels like a prison. Our neighborhood is surrounded by the dangerous places our friends tell us to avoid. People in neighborhoods like Haifa Street are surrounded by daily gun battles between insurgents (foreign and Iraqi) and soldiers (U.S. and Iraqi). Baghdad itself is surrounded by roads known for everything from kidnapping to explosions.

But she ends by affirming the many friends she has found there -- willing to offer hospitality even at risk to themselves.  So, she concludes:

We are surrounded by grace. We are surrounded by family. We are surrounded by the breath of life. Grace is infinite, everyone is our Family, and every breath is the Breath of God.

When, how, will we open our eyes? And how will we act once we see?