The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship has
issued a paper listing the issues it will be focusing on at the 214th
General Assembly.
Thanks to the Peace
Fellowship for sharing this helpful guide!
[5-29-02]
Peace issues at GA
General Assembly to consider proposal for
study of religion and violence
The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP)
is asking the 214th General Assembly to call for a study on
"violence and terrorism."
Under the proposal, ACSWP would form a task force to
prepare a report on "terrorism, the role of violence in religion
and, in particular, Islam, and U.S. political and economic involvement
in the Middle East that contributed to the present crisis. ... A vital
part of the study will be the defining of terrorism, war, and political
violence for the General Assembly, and reviewing the applicability of
the concepts of just peacemaking and just war in the context of post
September 11, 2001."
The rationale presented by ACSWP for the proposal
contains many compelling points: the need to understand hostility toward
the political and economic policies of the United States; the use of
"war against terrorism" rhetoric by our government and others
to justify increased military action around the globe; and new threats
to civil liberties.
The call is flawed, however, in singling out only
Islam for particular attention. Rationalization for the disproportionate
responses of Israel and the United States is also to be found in Jewish
and Christian belief in redemptive violence.
In his ground breaking new book, Jesus Against
Christianity, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer states, "Violence
continues to plague the world's monotheistic religions that uphold
sacred scriptures in which God is linked to superior violence. The
violence of God is used to justify the claims of followers whose
recourse to violence is rationalized as part of faithful service to God
and in pursuit of God-sanctioned goals. The just and violent God often
becomes an instrument or justifier of human revenge. Lurking behind the
reality of superior violence is the idea of redemptive violence, the
belief that violence saves."
Walter Wink, our 2001 Peace Breakfast speaker, has
said that violence is "the real religion of America." Both
Wink and Nelson-Pallmeyer maintain that Jesus' advocacy of nonviolence
in the face of brutal oppression was at the heart of his ministry and
message.
The G.A. should indeed order a study of the role of
violence in religion, including Christianity. And the study should
review not only the applicability of the concepts of "just
war" and "just peacemaking" (a PCUSA policy supporting
military interventions to address human rights abuses), but also the
applicability of Jesus' "third way" of direct nonviolent
intervention.
Holy Land Tours should include Palestinian
perspectives
In other business before G.A., the Presbytery of
Northern New York has submitted an overture on travel arrangement to the
Middle East. It resolves that "individuals and groups within the
PC(USA) be encouraged to arrange their trips to the Middle East in
consultation with the Worldwide Ministries Division's Middle East Office
and the Middle East Council of Churches and, when the trips are to
Israel-Palestine, that they be encouraged to meet with Palestinian
Christians and Muslims, with partner groups such as the Sabeel
Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem, with Israeli peace
activists, and with other groups carrying out nonviolent witness, such
as the Christian Peacemaker Teams, headquartered in Chicago, as well as
with groups representing the position of the Israeli government."
In the current situation, tours by church groups other
than peace activists are almost nonexistent in the Middle East, but they
are sure to resume when the current violence diminishes. Surely the call
of all believers to be peacemakers requires us to look beyond the
archeological and historical sights and to see the reality of life in
occupied Palestine.
Land Mines
Two overtures from Mission and Southern Kansas
presbyteries contain nearly identical requests for the church to call
for the U.S. to sign the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of Land
Mines. A new round of appeals from PC(USA) members to the government is
certainly appropriate as the problem continues and the treaty remains
unsigned. The Peacemaking Program is reissuing its useful resource on
land mines, which will help congregations and individuals join this
important advocacy effort.
Department of Peace
The Presbytery of Greater Atlanta has sent G.A. an
overture endorsing the creation of a U.S. Department of Peace at cabinet
level. The proposal is based on legislation introduced by U.S.
Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. The Peace Department's mandate,
according to his bill, would be to focus on nonmilitary and peaceful
conflict-resolution strategies and techniques, prevent violence, and
promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights.
Taco Bell Boycott
The Presbytery of Tampa Bay has passed an overture
that calls upon Presbyterians to join the national boycott of Taco Bell
Restaurants and Taco Bell products. The boycott has been organized by
the Coalition of Immokalee Workers on behalf of tomato pickers hired by
the Six Ls company to harvest tomatoes. According to the coalition, a
penny-a-pound increase in payment for tomatoes from Taco Bell would
result in a living wage for the farm workers.
One or two of the farm workers are planning to travel
to Columbus to make a direct appeal to the G.A. committee considering
this overture. There will be an opportunity for the public to hear their
story at the PPF booth on Monday afternoon.
Resolution on the Challenges to Global
Security:
Threats to the International System Controlling Arms and Their
Development
This document from ACSWP reviews with some distress
recent U.S. actions undermining international disarmament agreements.
These include U.S. failure to sign the Ottawa Land Mine treaty, defeat
of a ratification vote on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and
abrogation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in order to develop a
National Missile Defense System. Last
December, the U.S. halted work on a protocol to
monitor compliance with the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.
Failure to ratify the International Criminal Court is
also mentioned, but the resolution should be updated to note the
unprecedented "unsigning" of this treaty. Citing "just
war" tradition, the resolution contains an interesting list of
criteria for evaluating arms development and foreign policy decisions.
While most PPF members would support stronger criteria, these are
certainly sufficient to condemn current U.S. weapons development
projects.
