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Archive
From 2/2005:
New Details on UCC Divestment Proposals
February 28, 2005 -
As mentioned earlier, two divestment proposals have been submitted
for the upcoming General Synod. The resolutions are being reviewed
by a committee to make sure they meet the criteria for a proper
resolution and will then be sent to the Executive Council who will
decide which go to committee for review/discussion and which will go
directly to the floor.
We'll keep updating information on the
process and the resolutions as it becomes available.
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UCCTruths.com contributor Dexter Van Zile
featured in Jerusalem Post Op/Ed on Divestment
February 26, 2005 - From our man Dexter in the
Jerusalem Post:
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Jews in the United States have every reason to express shock
over the World Council of Churches' decision to encourage
members to follow the lead of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in
divesting from Israel.
The dominoes are falling against Israel. First, US colleges
embraced the cause of divestment, next the Anglican Church
announced that it was studying the issue, then the Presbyterian
Church (USA) adopted the policy – and last week the World
Council of Churches encouraged denominations to do the same.
It looks bad; but Jews need to understand that lay members of
Christian churches remain firm in their support for the Jewish
state. Jews need to reach out to Protestants in the pews of the
churches that fund the WCC, telling them that the council isn't
worthy of their support and that it's time to start a divestment
campaign of their own – against the WCC.
Jews might be surprised at the response they get. US Christians
stopped listening to the WCC long ago. Many still have not
forgiven it for giving $85,000 to the Patriotic Front of
Zimbabwe in 1978, months after the group shot down an airliner,
killing 38 of the 56 passengers on board. Terrorists killed 10
survivors.
American Christians know the WCC has a history of supporting
violent "liberation" movements in Central America, Africa and
East Asia.
They know the WCC ignored the plight of dissidents behind the
Iron Curtain and "built bridges" with killers and tyrants, just
as leaders from the Presbyterian Church (USA) recently extended
offers of friendship to Hizbullah, a group that killed 241 US
Marines in 1983.
Read the whole article... |
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Wiesenthal Center Sharply Criticizes WCC
February 24, 2005 - From
The Simon Wiesenthal Center:
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More Fund Raising Problems
February 24, 2005 - The goal was to raise
$1.5 million to continue the controversial advertising campaign, but
the UCC came up well short of that goal raising only $542,000. The
failure isn't going to stop the ad from running though - the
national office is reporting that
they will proceed with an "ad buy of $1 to $1.2 million for the
Lenten campaign". At the beginning of the "Still Speaking"
initiative, only one-third of UCC churches chose to participate.
There's no mention where the extra funds
will be coming from.
Another UCC initiative,
Accessible Airwaves
- which is challenging the FCC licenses of network-owned television
stations because the networks refused to run the ad - is also
falling far short of it's fund-raising goal of $100,000 which it
tried to raise during the month of December. They have only raised
$21,763.
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Jewish Groups Blast WCC
February 23, 2005 - Reaction from Jewish groups to the
World Council of Churches support for divestment has been swift and
sharp. From
Beliefnet:
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Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, interfaith director for the
Anti-Defamation League, dismissed the WCC as "irrelevant" but
was nonetheless concerned that the divestment campaign has taken
on a life of its own.
"The best thing we can do is continue to call it what is it --
holding Israel to a double standard and using religious language
to justify political ends," Bretton-Granatoor said.
Since last summer, other churches -- including agencies of the
Anglican Communion, Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ
and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) -- have examined
whether to follow the Presbyterians' lead in taking some form of
economic action against Israel.
The WCC said economic sanctions must be "equitable, transparent
and nonviolent," but Jewish groups say the standards continue to
be biased against Israelis without equal pressure on
Palestinians to rein in violence.
David Elcott, interfaith director for the American Jewish
Committee, blasted the WCC for an "ill-conceived and
destructive" policy at a time when Israel is dismantling
settlements and working with new Palestinian leadership.
"It's ironic that politicians are acting with greater moral
strength than religious leaders," Elcott said. "If (the WCC)
chooses to be irrelevant and take themselves out of the peace
camp, they're welcome to do that." |
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World Council of Churches Encourages
Divestment
February 21, 2005 - From the
Episcopal News Service:
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The
World Council of Churches (WCC) on February 21 urged its members
to consider economic measures to oppose Israeli occupation of
Palestinian territory and praised the action of a U.S.
denomination that has started a process of selective divestment
from companies linked to the occupation.
"Multinational corporations have been involved in the demolition
of Palestinian homes," the WCC's main governing body said in a
statement adopted during a February 15-22 meeting in Geneva.
They "are involved in the construction of settlements and
settlement infrastructure on occupied territory, in building a
dividing wall which is also largely inside occupied territory,
and in other violations of international law."
The WCC's central committee commended the action of the
Presbyterian Church (USA) in initiating a process of phased,
selective divestment from multinational corporations involved in
the occupation. |
This action should come as no surprise to
those that bother to follow the World Council of Churches
activities. The largely ineffective ecumenical organization has a
history of being
anti-semitic and hosting speakers that ignorantly link South African
apartheid to Israel. The UCC's own Bernice Powell Jackson is
also a World Council of Churches President from North America.
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Anti-Defamation League responds to the UCC
February 17, 2005 - In a letter sent last week to Peter
Makari of Global Ministries and UCC President John Thomas, the
Anti-Defamation League cautioned the United Church of Christ about
the quality of information being presented by the denomination on
the conflict in Israel. The letter, signed by ADL National
Director
Abraham H. Foxman, also expressed
concern about the idea of economic sanctions:
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...we must continue to
express our concern and consternation that the notion of using
economic sanctions is still being considered after the
considerable debate that occurred since the PC (USA)’s General
Assembly overtures were disseminated. |
Two divestment proposals are expected at General
Synod this year even though there has been considerable progress in
the peace process in Israel. The Presbyterian Church (USA) passed a
resolution on divestment and has been broadly criticized in the
media every since.
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TWO
DIVESTMENT PROPOSALS TO BE PRESENTED AT UCC GENERAL SYNOD
February 16, 2005 - Two general synod proposals will be
made at the July meetings. One of the proposals is focused on
divestment while the other will focus on a study on
divestment.
Resources on Divestment
Flashback:
Some in UCC considering divestment
American Jewish Committee Background Report on Divestment
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"Criticizing Israel
is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out
Israel for opprobrium and international sanction out of all
proportion to any other party in the Middle East is
anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest."
Download the brochure |
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L.A. Times:
More on UCC
Pedophile Pastor
February 16, 2005 - From the
L.A. Times:
|
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Bob
Rohdenburg was not prepared for what he heard over the phone
Saturday night.
His longtime friend Jeff Devore, an Orange County pastor, calmly
told Rohdenburg that FBI agents were searching Devore's
Fullerton apartment and had arrested him on suspicion of
trafficking in child pornography.
Rohdenburg and others who know Devore, 53, expressed shock
Tuesday over his arrest. Calling him "creative" "quiet" and
"well-liked," they said there had been no indication he was
involved in child pornography.
Continued... |
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Dexter Van Zile:
Proponents of
Divestment in the Presbyterian Church
February 15, 2005 - Our man Dexter explains divestment
in
The Washington Dispatch.
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Jews blast Presbyterian Church over
divestment talk
February 15, 2005 - Don't let this happen to the UCC.
From the
South Florida Sun-Sentinel:
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Palm Beach · After a year, they're still talking past each other
-- and on Saturday, they took their debate public.
Leaders of the Anti-Defamation League heard the Rev. Jay Rock
explain why the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is considering
pulling investments from companies that do business in Israel.
Jewish leaders then denounced Rock's comments as doubletalk and
said the Presbyterians were siding with Palestinians in the
Arab-Israeli conflict.
"Emotions are still running deep over this," Rock, the
denomination's coordinator for interfaith relations, said after
the heated dialogue at The Breakers resort. "My only concern,
really, is whether we can keep talking."
Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, ADL's interfaith director, agreed.
"We haven't been talking to each other for a year; we've been
talking past each other," he said at the annual meeting of ADL's
National Executive Committee. "When they said `divestment,' we
heard `boycott.' They should have known how the Jewish community
would react."
Continued... |
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Coffin's Confusion
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February 15, 2005 - The headline of
Rev. William Sloane
Coffin's blog entry at the UCC's
Accessible Airwaves
Web site says "It's clear that
homophobia is reason for ad's rejection"... but he
doesn't cite anything the networks did or said that would lead
to that conclusion. Coffin also blamed potential backlash from
the Religious Right and names Jerry Falwell... even though
Falwell told a national television audience that the ad should
run.
Why is it is so difficult
to be honest about the ad? |
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UCC Minister Busted in Kiddie-sex Sting
February 15, 2005 - From the
Associated Press:
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LOS ANGELES (AP) - Eight members of the
North American Man/Boy Love Association,
including an Orange County minister and two teachers from other
states, were arrested in Southern California on charges of
allegedly planning to travel to Mexico to have sex with boys,
authorities said Monday.
Four men were arrested in Los Angeles, three in San Diego and
one in Orange County on Saturday, following a sting operation in
which each man paid hundreds of dollars to an undercover agent
to arrange the sex, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said
during a news conference.
The Orange County man, Jeff Devore, is a pastor at Brea
Congregational Church, part of the United Church of Christ.
Devore, 53, was charged with distributing child pornography.
The men had traveled to Southern California with the expectation
of boarding a boat to Ensenada, where they were told sex with
the boys was awaiting them at a bed-and-breakfast, Eimiller
said. Through the undercover agent, she said,
they requested that the boys be as
young as 8 years old. |
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New UCC Ad Controversy Erupts
FCC documents raise new questions about UCC
Was the controversy manufactured?
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NBC Rejection dated 2/19/2004
(Click image for full size) |
CBS Rejection dated 3/3/2004
(Click image for full size) |
Statement from NBC to FCC:
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As the UCC admits, it never requested the
Station to air the advertisement at issue, called "Night Club."
Instead, in February 2004, the UCC, through its advertising
agency, approached the Network with the ad, which portrayed
other churches and religions as discriminatory in their refusal
to accept people who are African- American, Hispanic, disabled,
or gay. The Network concluded that the "Night Club" ad
inappropriately suggested that churches other than the UCC are
not open to people of diverse races and backgrounds and
therefore violated the Network's policy against addressing
issues of public controversy through paid commercial
advertisements.
Accordingly, the Network refused to air the ad.
In November 2004, the UCC approached the Network a second time
with the "Night Club" ad and also offered another commercial
announcement. The other commercial, which the Network accepted,
contained a positive message asserting only that UCC churches
are welcoming and inclusive. The Network again rejected the
"Night Club" ad as unacceptable under Network policy, however,
and offered suggestions to the UCC for modifying the "Night
Club" ad to address the Network's objections. The UCC responded
to these offers not by telling the Network to run the acceptable
ad or modifying the objectionable ad, but rather by filing the
Petition – more than 10 months after the objectionable ad was
first presented – against a station to which the ad had not even
been offered. |
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After suspicion arose before that
the ad campaign was manufactured (but before the documents were
available on the internet),
the UCC claimed they
were confused:
“The networks clearly offered mixed signals,” says the Rev. Robert
Chase of the UCC’s communication ministry. “At no time were we under
the impression that the networks’ decisions were final. Our
understanding was that such negotiations between media buyers and
networks were not unusual and were nothing to be concerned about.
From the church’s viewpoint, we simply could not believe that this
advertisement would be considered controversial or issue-oriented,
because quite clearly it is not." |
FCC Documents:
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Hawaiian Inmates Get Help from UCC
February 9, 2005 - From the
Honolulu Star-Bulletin:
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Hawaiian inmates at an Oklahoma prison practiced last night for
their Sunday Makahiki celebration, an event their supporters
hail as a victory for religious freedom.
About 100 men will mark the ancient Hawaiian tradition, ending
the season of peace and honoring Lono, the god of agriculture,
peace and fertility. Chanting, hula, a cleansing ritual written
for the men by kumu John Keola Lake, and an awa-drinking
ceremony are on the agenda, as well as a feast with laulau, fish
and poi.
A linchpin of the inmates' support has been the United Church of
Christ, descendant of the first missionaries who brought
Christianity to Hawaii and which has taken heat from other
churches for supporting a "pagan" religious practice. |
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UCC Minister Accused of Sexual Harassment
February 9, 2005 - From the
Akron Beacon Journal:
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KENT - A Kent woman is suing the United Church of Christ of Kent
and the Rev. Steve Lashbrook.
According to the lawsuit, while she worked at the church
Lashbrook ``on almost a daily basis... exposed (her) to sexual
explicit material for which (she) had no interest in viewing,''
leading her to ``seek counseling due to the continued sexual
harassment.''
Theresa Carr still answers phones at the church and declined to
comment Tuesday. She is seeking more than $350,000 in damages,
according to the lawsuit filed in Portage County Common Pleas
Court. She also is seeking lost wages and benefits for her
``humiliation, embarrassment, loss of reputation, and loss of
self-esteem.''
Lashbrook, who now lives in Michigan, did not return a phone
call seeking comment.
In the suit, Carr alleges that she contacted Lashbrook's
superiors at the church, but that ``there has never been a time
when anybody has been suspended, fired, or otherwise punished''
as a result of her allegations. |
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Quote of the Day
February 8, 2005 -
From the Des Moines Register:
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"The SpongeBob controversy illustrates
what is wrong with the way we communicate about faith and values
today," said the Rev. Paul Fraser of Urbandale, interim pastor
of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Hampton. "The
media frenzy is the way the game is played. The media are like
piranha in a tank and each side tries to throw in a better piece
of controversial meat for the public to consume that day." |
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Just the Facts Chuck
February 4, 2005 - Since UCC Seminarian and blogger
Chuck Currie can't
actually challenge the information on this site, he's resorted to
labeling this site a "conservative anti-UCC website". That's one way
of avoiding the issues when the facts don't agree with you. Although
Chuck makes no secret of his partisan views on his blog, you won't
find that on this web site. Unlike Chuck's site, there's no
endorsement for political candidates or parties here - the only
political issues that are addressed on this site are those that
relate to the role our denomination and NCC play - like the crisis
in Sudan. Chuck would rather play politics and throw arrows than
actually address some fundamental and irrefutable facts about Sudan:
1) The U.S. was way ahead of the rest of the world and
our denomination when
the issue was pressed
at the
U.N.'s
Human Rights Commission in April 2004.
2) The
National Council of Churches was a day late and a dollar short when
it passed a resolution in May 2004
calling for an investigation into Sudan (two weeks after the U.N.
already voted to do as much) while groups like Human Rights Watch
were calling for armed peacekeepers.
3) The UCC
didn't issue an Action Alert on Sudan until
July 2004 when the Presidential election was heating
up. Instead of pressing the U.N. on Sudan where
U.S. resolutions were being stonewalled, the Action Alert was
politically targeted to our government. At no time has the UCC, NCC
or FaithfulAmerica.org called on the U.N. to take direct
intervention in Sudan to stop the genocide.
Now, nearly
a year after the proposal was originally made by the U.S., the U.N.
is finally
getting ready to send 10,000 peacekeeping troops to Sudan with
the "prophetic voice" of our denomination still silent - and Chuck
Currie still playing indignant political games. No matter - we still
offer Chuck our "Extravagant Welcome" to our
message boards
to challenge the facts.
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Still Lying
February 3, 2005 - The lies from the UCC's Justice and
Witness Ministries are becoming more blatant. From the UCC JWM
Action Alert titled
"Get
the Facts on Iran Nuclear Weapons":
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The government of Iran has already submitted
to the International Atomic Energy Agency protocol and has
opened up its facilities to international inspectors. In
addition, Iran signed an agreement with Britain, France and
Germany that it would stop developing uranium enrichment
facilities. |
The truth is that the agreement was a temporary one
and the Iranian government doesn't want to stop uranium enrichment.
From the Associated Press today:
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A summary of
the negotiations that was leaked last week showed Europe had
made little progress in convincing Iran to make permanent its
temporary suspension of uranium enrichment activities, although
negotiators said the atmosphere at the talks has improved
recently. |
This is where a line has to be drawn between the
typical partisan Action Alert the UCC issues and plainly dangerous
and misleading Action Alerts.
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Jackson on the Economy
February 3, 2005 - Never bound by the lack of
information, Bernice Powell Jackson
opines
about the economy... and
Athanasius takes her to school:
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(Jackson) Today I heard on National Public
Radio that the Congressional Budget Office is estimating that
our national deficit might reach $855 billion dollars. That’s
$855,000,000,000 in case you need to see all the zeroes. That’s
approaching $1 trillion or $1,000,000,000,000 in deficit. And
I’m not even sure if that includes the new $80 billion request
for the Iraq war which the White House is taking to Congress in
the next few weeks.
Here she demonstrates the hazards of quoting what you think you
heard on NPR. The $855 billion figure is the
CBO's estimation of the cumulative deficit for the
years 2006-2015. The reference to the $80 billion for
Iraq makes clear that she thinks the CBO was talking about
this year. In fact, the CBO is estimating that deficits will
steadily drop over the next several years, turning into a
surplus by 2012. Again, that's not chump change, but it's
nothing like what Jackson thinks it is, and the fact that the
CBO foresees the percentage of GDP that the deficit equates to
dropping below 2% as early as 2007 is also a sign that the roof
isn't ready to fall in. |
It's comforting to know that we aren't the only ones
that can see through BPJ's ignorance. We've asked this before, but
it's worth asking again... when she writing this stuff, does it ever
occur to her to check her facts or is the political rhetoric just
too good to pass up?
_______________
Still Speaking?
February 3, 2005 - The United Church of Christ website
has a nice feature on
Howard Dean and
SpongeBob... but nothing on the U.N.'s failure on
Sudan.
And some of you wonder why there's so much cynicism
about the UCC national office.
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When's a blog, a blog?
February 2, 2005 - I received an email yesterday
praising this "blog". While I appreciate the sentiments, this isn't
a blog. There isn't a hard and fast definition for what constitutes
a blog - it's kind of like defining pornography - you know it when
you see it... and this site isn't a blog.
Blog's tend to be personality driven and this site is
intentionally not driven by personality. While we incorporate many
of the good elements of blogs (like concise news bits with good
references), nobody cares what James Hutchins thinks (or the 'merry
band of misfits' that make up this site's advisory board) - nor
should they.
Are there any real UCC-centric blog's out there?
Trying to
capitalize on the latest pop culture trends, the UCC has tried to create a
few blogs - but these aren't real blogs, they are half-witted public
relations vehicles. For instance, the ill-fated "Yule
Blog" from the Still Speaking website was a short-lived
cheerleading exercise which was manufactured to support the Still
Speaking initiative. Then there's the "Accessible
Airwaves" blog
which is really just a site dedicated to whining
about the networks not carrying the UCC ad. This isn't a blog
either, and we aren't sure what it is... but it says "blog" on it.
UCC
seminarian Chuck Currie has
a blog... but he doesn't quite get it either. Instead of making
good use of excerpts of newsworthy information and applying his own
context to it, he habitually posts whole press releases and
statements. Some of the information is interesting and thought
provoking - if you don't fall asleep trying to read it all. Oh...
and don't think about disagreeing with Chuck or challenging his
facts and expect the posted comments to last more than an hour. One
of the great thing about blogs - and the internet as a whole - is
the ability to interact collectively. When you restrict comments in
blogs to just those comments that are supportive, it loses
credibility, fast. Chuck doesn't get it.
So what
would make a good UCC-centric blog? How about a John Thomas blog? I
mean a real blog, not a manufactured cheerleading exercise, but one
that would incorporate the essence of blogs - a highly personal site
that would share the UCC President's thoughts, his ideas, his
mission and how he feels about anything - and open up feedback and
comments no matter how bad as long as it's on topic. That would be a
blog to get excited about.
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Questions?
Comments? Email:
UCCtruths@yahoo.com
