This afternoon, the PCUSA General Assembly voted (529-135-9) to send the “Christians and Jews: People of God” paper back for a re-write that is almost certainly going to result in an inferior product. The San Francisco Presbytery overture was amended to state:
1. Refer the report from the Offices of Interfaith Relations and Theology and Worship entitled: ‘Christians and Jews: People of God’ back to the Office of Interfaith Relations and Theology and Worship to rewrite the report after broader consultation to include the National Middle East Presbyterian Caucus, PC(USA) partner churches and agencies in the Middle East, relevant mission networks of the PC(USA), the Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns, and the Advisory Committee for Social Witness Policy.
2. That correspondence about this report between the National Middle East Presbyterian Caucus and the General Assembly Mission Council, and between the Israel-Palestine Mission Network and the General Assembly Mission Council be sent to these offices and committee working on the revised paper.
The mere fact that the response of the IPMN is being sent to the people doing the re-write, rather than being discarded for the propagandistic, borderline anti-Semitic nonsense it is, suggests that the final product will be an atrocity. The fact that the agencies and groups specifically mentioned in section 1 are all on record in one form or another as being anti-Israel certainly is an indication of what will be produced.
July 8, 2010 at 4:50 pm
I’m no expert on Middle East geo-politics. But it has always seemed to me that anyone, or any religious denomination, that can’t bring itself to explicitly state without caveat that Israel has the right to defend itself in the face of undeniable threats is, in effect, saying that Israel doesn’t have the right to exist. And that’s a position that simply doesn’t deserve any respect or legitimacy at all.
July 8, 2010 at 5:46 pm
That’s a good way to put it, Jason. Even when Israel’s right to exist is granted, it’s always in the context of objecting to pretty much anything Israel does to defend itself. Thanks for pointing out the disconnect.
July 8, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Nothing borderline about it – when you consider the footnote, it was flat out antisemitic.
That this is appended to the overture and its basis – and that that is the rationale the GA chose to endorse – speaks volumes.
The PC(USA) owns this now.