United Methodists calling on Shrub, Cheney to repent or lose membership

[crispini]

Found this on http://chuckcurrie.blogs.com/

To: George W. Bush; Richard "Dick" Cheney
George W. Bush, Richard "Dick" Cheney (respondents)
Rev. Mark Craig - Sr. Pastor of Highland Park UMC
Rev. Michael L. Nichols - D.S. of the Dallas South District
Bishop William B. Oden - Bishop of North Texas Annual Conference United Methodist Council of Bishops

A Letter of Complaint Against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney

We, the undersigned, do hold that George W. Bush, a member of Park Hill United Methodist Church (UMC) in Dallas, Texas, and Dick Cheney (local membership unknown) are undeniably guilty of at least four chargeable offenses for lay members as listed in 2702.3 of the 2000 Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church. These offenses are: crime, immorality, disobedience to the Order and Discipline of The UMC, and dissemination of doctrine contrary to the established standards of doctrine of The UMC. For these offenses, we the undersigned call for an immediate and public act of repentance by the respondents. If the respondents do not reply with sincere and public repentance for their crimes, we demand that their membership in the United Methodist Church be revoked until such time that they sincerely and publicly repent.

(snip)

In Conclusion

We, the undersigned, are also very much disturbed by President Bush's many references to the significance of Christian faith in the decisions that he has made as President of the United States. George W. Bush has called Jesus his "favorite philosopher", said that Jesus changed his life, and that his decisions are often guided by prayer. In fact, we feel that most of his actions as president have directly contradicted the philosophy of Jesus. Jesus said to feed, clothe, and shelter the "least of these", not to starve, strip, and bomb them.

We are also concerned that the respondents seem completely ignorant of their denomination's stances on many weighty moral issues and have consistently ignored the advice and pleadings of their own Council of Bishops. We, the undersigned, recognize that the Methodist tradition is founded on both support and accountability. Our leaders and our members have tried to support the respondents with prayers and petitions, but we fear it has been to no avail. At this point, we cannot be expected to "encourage and enjoin obedience to the powers that be" (2000 Discipline, p.66) when they are reckless and irresponsible with power given them by our democratic process.

Now is the time to hold them accountable, or to be judged ourselves by God for not doing so. "

http://www.petitiononline.com/tmrloc03/petition.html



Wow. Jesus said to feed, clothe, and shelter the "least of these", not to starve, strip, and bomb them. Oh, SNAP. That's got quite a zing to it! I'm impressed!

[DebJ]

1. it's about time!!!! Thanks.

[NMDemDist2]

2. wow excellent n/t

[acmavm]

3. Well now, soon we'll be seeing the United Methodists on a list of

terrorist organizations. I'm sure Asscroft has been a good little soldier and tapped their phones by now. Hey, they might even put an agent in their midst to check up on what they're up to.

Whatever happened to Agent Mike by the way?

[rhino47]

4. methodist`s have been running ads in ohio

over the past year that espouse inclusion.Basically the ads are everyone is welcome in gods house (gays etc).They started to run them at the same time fma was first spawned.

[ogradda]

5. thru that link you can sign the petition too

:evilgrin:

[Minimus]

6. Great find - thanks for sharing

I am Quaker and my religion closely follows that of Methodist, so reading this is great!

I am sick to death of the southern baptists I work with telling me what a xtian bush is. I will be glad to show them this. Not that it will do much good because I guess he practices their kind of xtianity.
My office is filled with adulterers, liars, crooks - I cannot begin to list all the slimy stuff these people do. But hey, they go to church on Sunday so they are good xtians. Puhleeze!

[mzmolly]

7. This should be sent to the media. The "fundies" may reconsider?

Not that the Methodist Church is made up of "fundies" but ... ya get the point.

[0007]

8. ......and Jays'us said treat all men as your brother

A Special Love!!

[susu369]

9. Methodists oppose capital punishment...

*nt*

[IdaBriggs]

10. Love it! Yeah! Go, Methodists! nt

[ClintonTyree]

11. Finally, some REAL Christians

The lunatic Fundies, with their unwavering support of the Criminal in Chief, could learn something from these REAL Christians. As John Kerry has stated time and again, " words without deeds".........
These folks give me hope that all Christians haven't swallowed the Bush flavored Kool-Ade so favored by the Fundies.

[wicket]

12. Jesus wept.

Great find, thank-you!

[hlthe2b]

13. I was raised Methodist, though I'm not very observant... but this makes me

really PROUD! Maybe it is time to check out the Methodist church nearby. Remember they scorched him on the war, too!

[Doohickie]

14. Official UMC statement

It appears your petition is not the official position of the UMC, but rather a lay effort to draw attention to Bush's lack of adherence to the faith.

However, on the official UMC website, it does state this:

The United Methodist Church supports conflict resolution through the United Nations and sees cooperation with the organization as an alternative to war and terrorism. The church opposes indiscriminate military force to fight terrorism.

(source: http://www.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=2&mid=5808)

My own church, the Presbyterian Church USA, has declared the Iraq war to be immoral and illegal under international law. At the recent PCUSA General Assembly, they had a Christian minister from Iraq speak. At he concluded, someone from the assembly asked whether things were better for Christians in Iraq since the Saddam was taken out of power. He replied that it was worse.

George W. Bush is the only person that could have removed Saddam from power and made the resulting world a worse place.

[crispini]

16. Good point, I was wondering about how "official" it was.

Though it's interesting to note that the pastor listed on the petition, Rev. Mark Craig, has been cited as being quite PRO-Shrub in older articles about Bush:

From:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week421/news.html
NEWS:
Spirituality of President Bush
January 19, 2001

BOB ABERNETHY (anchor): In this special report, Kim Lawton examines the religious influences in George W. Bush's life and the places where he may seek spiritual guidance in his new office.

(snip)

LAWTON: Mark Craig is pastor of the Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, where Bush is a member. In his book, A CHARGE TO KEEP, Bush writes that one of Craig's sermons about rising to every challenge helped him make the decision to run for president. Craig, who declined to be interviewed, says Bush shattered his skepticism about politicians.

Reverend Mark Craig (Pastor, Highland Park United Methodist Church): I think what you did for me, you have done for others. I think you have brought healing and brought hope to the young, to the elderly, to the marginalized, to the dispossessed. And that's what Moses did. That's what Moses did. He was chosen by God, as you have been chosen by God, to lead the people.

Wonder if there was a bit of change of heart there?

[RedEarth]

15. Freepers are planning on attacking Currie's blog for remarks he made

stating that The Institute of Religion and Democracy is really a front group for the radical right nut case Richard Mellon Scaife.

"This Blog Is Under Attack From The Free Republic Discussion Board
This post has been updated

Participants with in The Free Republic discussion board are apparently working on a plan to flood my site with comments – relevant or not – to disrupt service on my blog. They’re apparently mad about my post from yesterday that showed the The Institute on Religion and Democracy is really a political front group for ultra-conservative Richard Mellon Scaife and others. I suppose if these folks cannot argue the truth they have to resort to internet terrorism of a limited sort. Well, I’ve put up with worse. Let them come. I know how to delete."

UPDATE: Make sure you read their comments.

http://chuckcurrie.blogs.com/chuck_currie/2004/10/this_blog_is_un.html

BTW...Currie has a very interesting site and certainly worth a read.

[baldguy]

17. k.

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. The Methodists are liable to split apart over that

There is a faction of conservative bible-thumping Methodists that would gladly give the left-leaning group the old heave-ho the way the Baptists got split up earlier this year.