O THOSE NASTY RESOLUTIONS!

For the last couple of days I have been slogging through our Disciples Year Books from 1971 until 2006.

My purpose has been to look at controversial resolutions voted on from Assembly to Assembly. A couple of things immediately come to mind: First, no matter what we say about the serious issues facing the world, hardly anybody outside either reads them or pays the slightest attention to anything we have concluded.

Secondly, practically every decision we made has proved to be prophetic. What we approved has been affirmed by secular history. Those things we disapproved have widely been seen as unworthy. While we might have sweat blood and risked serious division, we have almost always been on the side of the angels.

This brace of observations leads me to two conclusions:

1-When we speak it has been to ourselves, not to society. I came out of seminary almost totally unformed outside my parochial boundaries. What did I know about war, justice, civil rights, prisons, labor relations, economic equity, the Equal Rights Amendment, conscientious objection, farm workers, the United Nations, gays and lesbians, nuclear proliferations on and on and on? Nada!!

On those occasions when I did ponder what God probably wanted, I believed I was far removed from anything the church had to say. And then I began to attend our Assemblies, and what a shock! I was in the main stream of the church’s best thinking. I was formed by what we had to say! There were clear ethical imperatives, and when I articulated them back in my congregations, it was with the support of the denomination.

While it may not matter whether anybody out there pays attention to what we say in our Assemblies, it is critical that inside the church a clear direction is being articulated. Not only young ministers but also an increasing number of lay folk have returned from these gatherings supported by what they heard to be God’s will for the world.

2-While our decisions may have risked ecclesial divisions, we have managed to articulate a clear sense that God has a purpose in the world and that the church is called to carry that vision. We are part of that dynamic march. We have been on the side of what is right.

Here are some of the things we voted to reject or "disapprove":

• Suspension of our nation’s financial support of the United Nations.
• Against amnesty for those who fled to Canada in opposition to the war in Vietnam.
• Deploring the Supreme Court’s decision easing abortion laws.
• Removal of our support for farm workers.
• The sole use of male terms when referring to God.
• A repudiation of liberation theology.
• Declaring homosexuality to be sin.
  

And here are a few of the things we voted to support:

• Ministry to persons in prison for conscience’s sake.
• Rejecting a governmental threat to our civil liberties.
• A call for economic justice.
• Support of farm workers (at least twice).
• Civil rights for all--(a number of resolutions).
• Rejecting “systems of death” in our national budget.
• Deploring capital punishment (twice).
• Support of the Equal Rights Amendment.
• Support of the United Nations.
• Civil liberties for gay and lesbian persons.
• Ending the arms race.
• Witnessing for world peace (a number of resolutions).
• Support of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.
• Against torture as a national policy.
• Support for undocumented persons.
• A pledge of resistance concerning the invasion of Latin American nations.
• Dismantling the School of the Americas (which trains right-wing terrorists for Latin American dictators to use as killers in order to maintain political power).
• Support of pacifism as a way of life.
• Opposition to Star Wars (The strategic defense initiative).
• Opposition to AK-47s ands Uzis in the hands of civilians.
  
• For handgun control.
• Calling for health-care reform.
• Support for gay/lesbian participation in the life of the church.

And there is much more!! (As one of the founders of DJAN, I am proud to say that many of the prophetic social resolutions over the last 12 years have come from congregations related to and working with this much-needed justice ministry).

While the Year Books do not record the number of votes for and against, memory tells me that almost all of these issues were hotly debated and the vote mixed. I believe that the implication of doing away with controversial resolutions may leave us spiritually and ethically impoverished, and well behind the positive flow of history so necessary to the mission of a living church.

What if, when called to speak out, the prophets had said nothing, since it might be this or it might be that--and, God help us, it might even be controversial?

But that’s just my opinion.

So what do you think?

Charles Bayer

No Matter What the Church Does NOT say, The War is Still a Moral Issue!

Wendy and I have recently returned from Australia, a nation that has a lot going for it. The average income per couple is over $100,000 per year--and there are few enormous incomes which might distort that statistic. What is more, nobody needs to worry about health care, the costs of education or what will happen to them when they grow older. Not pouring hundreds of billions each year into a military machine has made possible these more human options.

While there we followed the Olympics on TV. That nation of 20 million earned more medals than any other country--given the size of its population. Four times as many as the 300 million from which we could choose our athletes.

There were distressing moments. While it didn't show on US TV, when on the opening night the athletes paraded into the Bird's Nest, the US delegation was greeted with boos as well as with cheers. OUCH! A government official asked all Aussie athletes, and others from down under, to wear something identifying their nationality so "they would not be mistaken for Americans." DOUBLE OUCH!

The Prime Minister was recently tossed out of office, not even surviving in his own own constituency. A major issue was the war in Iraq. His support of Bush left him nicknamed "Weed." Under the new government, Australian troops have gone home for good.

Now we are back in California to be confronted by a nation where an immoral war has become a secondary issue--at best. The conflict seems less important than the price of gasoline. We have been reduced to discovering how to get out of what we never should have gotten into.

What about the Disciples of Christ? Is the rape and occupation of a nation that did not and could not have attacked us a moral concern? Heavens, let's not have to take a position! We seem determined to eliminate all such uncomfortable matters from the agendas of our national meetings. This includes not only the war, but also torture, capital punishment, gun control---on and on and on. It might be this and it might be that, and since the denomination has within it people with various opinions, it behooves us to say nothing. It seems that a rather important Oklahoma congregation objected to the statement on the war passed at last summer's General Assembly. The leadership's panic was immediate. I have dealt with that in a published letter in the DisciplesWorld and in a prior blog column. But there is more to the story.

The Assembly resolution called for our General Minister and President to convey the adopted message to our congregations--and beyond. I have recently read her pastoral epistle. It is indeed pastoral. Any prophetic word or faithfulness to the resolution was smothered in support of those in the military, those who have lost loved ones in the war, and most of all, to the the chaplains, whose job is to take care of the troops. While all of that is appropriate, it is not an honest interpretation of the resolution. Indeed, it is to back off from its impact. So from the perspective of the GMP, we cannot--as a Church--criticize the war lest other congregations like the one in Oklahoma be offended. My guess is that GMP Watkins' cautious position will carry the day, and next summer's General Assembly will end our having to decide on anything larger than how to to fix our tired administrative structure.

There are those of us who will have to decide how to spend our time, energies and resources. Engaging in a denominational fight or even participating in future gatherings devoid of the clear imperatives of our faith will probably not be among the options . I wonder if we, the clergy and the lay leadership of our churches, have not only taken the war, as well as other critical issues, off the agenda, but have also settled for a religious perspective which says, "it might be this or it might be that--and what does it matter anyhow?

But that's just my opinion. What is yours?

To read Sense-of-the-Assembly Resolution 0728 on 'The Church's Response to the War in Iraq,' PLEASE CLICK HERE.

To read more about the General Minister and President's 'Pastoral Letter on the War in Iraq,' PLEASE CLICK HERE.

To read more about the resolutions controversy, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

To join the hundreds of thousands of people who have signed the Statement Against the War, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

To find out more about DJAN, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

To support the justice ministry of DJAN, PLEASE CLICK HERE.