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by N. Gordon Cosby, who with his wife Mary founded the pioneering, ecumenical Church of the Saviour, in the 1940s in Washington, D.C.

It appears on the Inward/Outward blog of the Church of the Saviour

I have a friend who is an attorney with a deep knowledge of the national economic crisis. He made two interesting comments:

He first said that "liquidity" is not the real problem in the market right now---it is that no one knows what anything is worth. So much stuff of questionable value is hidden on balance sheets that buyers no longer know if something is worth what it is trading for, less, or more. So no one really knows how bad things are and cannot put an efficient, valid price on things. In other words, blindness about value. That destroys the logic of the "free market" because efficiency is based on "transparency" of value.

Second, he said that as a result of the first problem of blindness about value, it is difficult to know if persons you are selling to can meet their commitments to you. In other words---blindness about the solvency of parties in the market. That also kills an "efficient" market because it destroys the needed trust that makes the market work.

In spiritual traditions of all kinds, blindness is an old theme----people who corruptly set out to blind others end up blind themselves. We ignore that wisdom at our peril. Morality, once again, is proven to be fundamental to an efficient marketplace.

Source: Conversation with a friend, September 28, 2008

The New York Times (among many others) reports today:

The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled on Friday that same-sex couples have the right to marry, reversing a lower court decision that had concluded that the civil unions legalized in the state three years ago had offered the same rights and benefits as marriage.

With the 4-to-3 ruling, Connecticut becomes the third state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage. California legalized gay marriage in May 2008, and Massachusetts in 2004.

More from the N Y Times >>

Presbyterian Peacemaking Program Update
October 10, 2008

The latest listing of resources and events from the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program includes links to resources for the Peacemaking Offering, domestic violence, the coming election, HIV/Aids, Darfur, the Middle East, torture, nuclear disarmament, Sudan, the coming witness against the School of the Americas/WHINSEC (November 21-23), and much more.

"Soldiers of Conscience" will air on PBS on Thursday, October 16. Don't miss it.

This compelling, disquieting documentary profiles eight soldiers in the Iraq War as they face the moral decision to kill or not to kill. Four decide not to kill and become conscientious objectors; four believe it is their duty to kill if necessary.

Each wrestles with the morality of killing in the split-second combat decision that can never be forgotten or undone. All struggle with the aftermath of their decisions. In addition, the film interviews those who train soldiers for war, and we hear them discuss their moral reasoning process.

from a Presbyterian News Service report dated October 9, 2008, by Jerry L. VanMarter.
 

The Rev. Richard W. Irwin, a retired Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission worker who served in Brazil from 1947-1995, died there Sept. 26. He was 88.  [And he has been a member of the Witherspoon Society since 1991.]   More >>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More food for reflection and discernment on moving to a more welcoming church

We recently posted, in html format, most of the articles in the Summer 2008 issue of Network News, to make them more easily accessible, with clickable links to the many resources that are listed.

You can also download the regular PDF version, which is easily printable to share with others.

We're finally adding the last few articles in html format, including:

George Hunsinger, professor of systematic theology at Princeton Theological Seminary and the founder of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), tells of the advice of Darius Rejali, a distinguished torture researcher and analyst, who lists “five steps which would bring torture to an end.”

He summarizes them: “In short, there must be (1) a single set of operating procedures, (2) a clear chain of command, (3) outside monitoring by accredited agencies, (4) a fair and timely grievance procedure and (5) above all, a strict observance of procedures for accountability.”

A special report from the Oakland Institute

"The borders between our countries should be common grounds to unite us, not lines that divide us."

Since NAFTA’s passage in 1993, the U.S. Congress has debated and passed several new trade agreements – with Peru, Jordan, Chile, and the Central American Free Trade Agreement. At the same time it has debated immigration policy as though those trade agreements bore no relationship to the waves of displaced people migrating to the U.S., looking for work.

Meanwhile, a rising tide of anti-immigrant hysteria has increasingly demonized those migrants, leading to measures that deny them jobs, rights, or any pretense of equality with people living in the communities around them. To resolve any of these dilemmas, from adopting rational and humane immigration policies to reducing the fear and hostility towards migrants, the starting point has to be an examination of the way U.S. policies have both produced migration and criminalized migrants.

Read Uprooted: The Impact of Free Market on Migrants, by David Bacon, Senior Fellow at the Oakland Institute. This 23-page report is presented in PDF format.

Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow, along with Linda Valentine, Executive Director of the General Assembly Council and Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk, sent this letter to the church on October 4

Churchwide Letter: Economic Credit Crisis

One forceful paragraph reads:

As followers of Jesus Christ, let us join in a call to our own people and to our fearful nation to hear God's word that "perfect love casts out fear;" and let us look anew at our economic system-one which has been immensely productive in many respects, but which has tended to favor the strong and aggressive, often at great cost to the weak. Let us all repent of our own decisions, both personal and corporate, regarding our use of the earth's resources and of the financial resources of which we have been made stewards. And let us make clear to our legislators and to those whose are charged with the management of this nation's financial resources that any recovery of fiscal accountability must be accompanied with moral accountability for the unfortunate, so that the burdens and blessings of the future are fairly shared.

For the full letter >>

PC(USA) weighs in on national financial crisis

Leaders send letters to church, Congress; Washington Office publishes background, analysis

Presbyterian News Service, Louisville — October 6, 2008 --- As the U.S. Congress grappled with a financial services industry bail-out package late last week, leaders in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) took part in the national debate, sending letters to Presbyterians and to Congress. The Presbyterian Washington Office today (Oct. 6) published background and analysis of the crisis, including General Assembly policy germane to the crisis and its fallout.

The three documents are

from the Rev. Bruce Gillette

Have you, like me, been receiving a lot of email notes about political candidates? Some of these emails, like the political ads on TV, are not true. Before you forward an e-mail to others about anyone, political candidate or any other human being, please remember the Ten Commandments: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor" (Ex. 20:16; Deut. 5:20). Our church’s Heidelberg Catechism explains it: “Q. 112. What is required in the ninth commandment? A. That I do not bear false witness against anyone, twist anyone’s words, be a gossip or a slanderer, or condemn anyone lightly without a hearing. Rather I am required to avoid, under penalty of God’s wrath, all lying and deceit as the works of the devil himself. In judicial and all other matters I am to love the truth, and to speak and confess it honestly. Indeed, insofar as I am able, I am to defend and promote my neighbor’s good name.” Please keep this biblical teaching in mind when you get political email or see ads on TV.

Please encourage your online friends and all political candidates to keep this commandment. If you have questions about the truthfulness of any ad (and you should about any ad), check it out at the web site for the Annenberg Political Fact Check, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania which is “a nonpartisan, nonprofit, ‘consumer advocate’ for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.”

Presbyterian News Service provided a report on October 3, the day after the Rev. Janet Edwards was exonerated of charges brought against her for presiding over the marriage in 2005 of two women.  The report provides some more details about the arguments in her defense, and offers comments from Ms. Edwards and others involved in the case.

For items from
earlier in October
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August, 2008
July, 2008
June, 2008
May, 2008
April, 2008
March, 2008
February, 2008
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December, 2007
November, 2007
October, 2007
September, 2007
August, 2007

Check earlier months through the general archive page.

For an index of all our reports on the Witherspoon Conference

The 2006 General Assembly
 
Some of our more important recent reports are still listed below.

On Wasilla City Council, she opposed earlier closings -- and told a Presbyterian pastor that faith had nothing to do with such things

The Chicago Tribune offers an interesting insight into the religious faith of the Republican candidate for Vice President:

Sarah Palin may be the heroine of the religious right, but Rev. Gene Straatmeyer vividly recalls a public run-in he once had with the now Republican vice presidential candidate over clergy support for a crackdown on bars.

In short, Straatmeyer, as a Presbyterian pastor in Wasilla, supported the police chief in urging the City Council to shorten the traditional 5 a.m. last call by a few hours, partly to reduce drunk driving and domestic violence. Palin, then a city councilwoman, sided with the saloon keepers, and scolded the pastor for interfering.

"She said, 'I go to Assembly of God Church and I am a Sunday school teacher there and I see no relationship between my Christian faith and what hours the bars close,' " recalled Straatmeyer, now living in Texas.

The report adds:

Tavern owners then rallied around Palin's successful challenge to Wasilla's longtime mayor, with campaign records showing that two of them alone provided 15 percent of the campaign cash she took in from supporters. 

“Within months of taking office, Palin fired veteran Wasilla Police Chief Irl Stambaugh, the author of the bar hour reduction plan.

The full story >>

The anti-hunger group “Bread For The World” has launched an e-mail newsletter, “Bread For The Preacher,” featuring preaching aids and worship resources surrounding issues of hunger and poverty. The free news letter is delivered directly to the inbox of church leaders who sign up for it at www.bread.org. Gary Cook, Bread For The World’s director of church relations and former coordinator of the Presbyterian Hunger Program, says the new resource was created in response to requests from member churches.

To sign up, find the “newsletter signup” box toward the upper right of the home page. Type in your email address, and if BFW doesn’t know you, you can register first, and then, as you scroll down, request the “Bread for the Preacher” newsletter and anything else that interests you.

Food for reflection and discernment on moving to a more welcoming church    [10-3-08]

Guidelines for Presbyterians during times of disagreement, adopted by 204th General Assembly    18

Rev. Janet Edwards found not guilty, 0-9
 [10-2-08]

Today at 2:40 PM, the Permanent Judicial Commission of Pittsburgh Presbytery presented their verdict in the case of Rev. Janet Edwards.

They found Rev. Edwards not guilty on both charges, by a margin of 0-9. A summary and quotations from their decision will follow shortly.

Edwards was accused of presiding over the marriage in 2005 of two women, Nancy McConn and Brenda Cole.  This was the second time these charges had been prosecuted against Rev. Edwards, the first occasion having ended based on procedural issues.

This morning, the prosecution's witness failed to appear, so both parties moved immediately to closing arguments.

The prosecution argued that Rev. Edwards performed a marriage, that she knew it was wrong, and that it was contrary to Scripture and the Constitution. The prosecutors suggested that if Rev. Edwards had wanted to perform a same-sex marriage, the proper approach would be an attempt to change the Book of Order.

The defense argued, mostly, that the prosecution has failed to demonstrate any of the points of their argument. No evidence was presented to confirm that Rev. Edwards actually performed the ceremony. (The burden of proof rests with the prosecution.) No argument was made as to how Rev. Edwards' actions violated either the Scriptures cited in the charges or a mandatory provision in the Constitution.

In addition, the defense observed that it is impossible to amend the Book of Order to change a mandatory provision, if no such mandatory provision exists.

Thanks to More Light Presbyterians, for the reports we're summarized above.

Everybody is blaming greed for our current financial crisis. But if you’d like to think a little more deeply about the subject of greed, you might take a look at a blog on the Utne website, which gathers together bits from a number of perspectives, and links you to them the original sources – including Rabbi Michael Lerner of Tikkun, and Dr. Rebecca Blank, who says in an interview on Religion & Ethics Newsweekly that greed does have its value, too.

Click here for the story and the links >>

JOKES THAT CAN BE TOLD IN CHURCH

A Sunday School teacher was discussing the Ten commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to “honor thy father and thy mother” she asked “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters? 

Without missing a beat one little boy answered, “Thou shall not kill.” 

Presbyterians called to join in monthly fasting in response to global food crisis      [9-23-08]

   The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — at the behest of the denomination’s 218th General Assembly — is inviting its congregations to engage in a monthly, churchwide fast to discern faithful responses to the global food crisis.

The call to action comes as approximately 854 million people worldwide are going hungry and soaring food prices are putting another 100 million people at risk of starvation while others live with plenty to spare.

Stated Clerk praises pact to improve wages and working conditions for farmworkers
[9-12-08]

Presbyterian News Service reports that Whole Foods Market has struck an agreement with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-backed Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to help raise wages and improve working conditions for Florida’s tomato pickers.

The Texas-based organic and natural foods grocer is the latest to join the coalition’s Campaign for Fair Food, agreeing to pay a penny more per pound for tomatoes it purchases from Florida growers. The extra money would be passed along to the harvesters.

The CIW, a Florida-based farmworkers group, receives strong support from the PC(USA) and other faith groups.

The Rev. Gradye Parsons, stated clerk of the PC(USA) General Assembly, issued a statement commending Whole Foods and the coalition on the agreement, which was signed this week.

We posted just a couple hours ago the announcement of a planned "wide ranging mission study designed to enable the larger church to review the scope and function of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Washington Office."

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