Street Prophets

Religion and Politics News Roundup

by Shelby Meyerhoff

Thu Feb 21, 2008 at 08:16:48 AM PDT

[editor's note, by PoliSigh] for your reading pleasure.....


"Presbyterian High Court Bars Noncelibate Gay Clergy." From the Religion News Service (via EthicsDaily):

The high court of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has issued a landmark decision that unequivocally bars noncelibate gay and lesbian clergy and halts recent attempts to compromise on ordination standards.

Ministerial candidates in the PCUSA are required to be in faithful heterosexual marriages or remain celibate, though a compromise reached in 2006 was thought to potentially loosen those standards.

No such loosening is allowed, ruled the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission, the 16-member high court of the PCUSA, on Feb. 11. The "fidelity and chastity" requirement is "a mandatory standard that cannot be waived," the court ruled.

  • ::

The Teamsters Union announced yesterday their endorsement of Barack Obama. Jesse Holland of the Associated Press reports (via The Washington Post) on the recent wave of union support for Obama:

The endorsement from the Teamsters is Obama's fourth from organized labor in a week. The 65,000-member International Brotherhood of Boilermakers endorsed Obama on Wednesday, the 1.9-million member Service Employees International Union backed the Illinois senator last Friday, and the smaller United Food and Commercial Workers endorsed him last Thursday.

As noted by Alex Carpenter at Faith in Public Life's Blogging Faith, the winners of this year's C-Span StudentCam documentary contest are 11th-graders Scott Mitchell and Nick Poss. Their documentary, "Leaving Religion at the Door" addresses the question of whether and how religion should influence American politics. At six minutes, "Leaving Religion at the Door" is beautifully woven piece that features interviews with representatives of a variety of faith traditions. Check it out!

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra at Christianity Today writes a hopeful piece about the decline in evangelical support for the death penalty. She quotes Rutherford Institute president John Whitehead on the reasons that support for the death penalty is incompatible with evangelical Christianity:

"It's anti-evangelical to kill people," Whitehead said. "Christianity is redemptive. But you can't redeem people by extinguishing them." Whitehead believes opposition to the death penalty will gain momentum in the future. "Young Christians are seeing right away that, hey, the meek and mild Jesus—would he pull the lever? Would he put the hood on and pull the lever? I don't think so."

However, the news about evangelicals and death penalty opposition is not all rosy. The article includes this alarming statistic: "White evangelicals are still the death penalty's strongest supporters, with 74 percent approval, but that is down from 82 percent in 1996."

In "US Fed slashes growth forecasts," BBC News reports:

The Fed cut its growth forecast for this year by half a percent to a new range of between 1.3% and 2%.

The US central bank also said the jobless rate could be as high as 5.3% by the end of the year.


Tags: news, religion, politics (all tags)

Permalink | 6 comments

  • M&M's to start the day off right? (16+ / 0-)

    Recommended by:
    lam2b2g, ogre, Rusty Pipes, Richard Bowser, Asbury Park, vgranucci, paxpdx, RussellKing, Shawnari, dirkster42, Thirst, Parthenia, Absit Invidia, revtheodyke, beinemac, knucklelady

    mmmmmmmm.....

    by Shelby Meyerhoff on Thu Feb 21, 2008 at 06:38:14 AM PDT

  • As usual, (4+ / 0-)

    Recommended by:
    vgranucci, dirkster42, Thirst, Absit Invidia

    The Witherspoon Society (an organization of Progressive Presbyterians) has been reporting and analyzing the most recent decision of the PC(USA)'s PJC for the past week.  The most helpful analysis is by Gene TeSelle:

    G-6.0106b, adopted in 1996-97, prohibits ordination of any person refusing to repent of a practice that Scripture calls sin. There are many activities that the Bible calls sins, and Presbyterians are clearly divided over whether, or in what sense, some of them are even sins. Despite this, same-sex relations have been singled out, and the people involved in them have been scapegoated as the essence of sin. We must note that the meaning and application of this paragraph, even as it applies to same-sex relationships, are contested and will continue to be the subject of many appeals to the Permanent Judicial Commission.

    The PJC decisions upholding the letter of G-6.0106b are authoritative for the time being. They have gone against the letter and the spirit of the most recent Authoritative Interpretation by the General Assembly.

    The PJC's interpretation (or misinterpretation, as many of us see it) can be corrected in two ways, both of which should be pursued.

    The coming General Assembly can and should issue a new Authoritative Interpretation.

    At a minimum this should declare that not every "shall" in the Book of Order is an essential of Reformed polity, leaving many of these details to discernment by governing bodies or to further interpretation in judicial cases or interpretations by the General Assemly.

    But the Assembly can do more. It can correct these recent rulings by the PJC to state that ordination requirements are also subject to discernment by governing bodies in accordance with G-6.0108b.

    Beyond issuing an AI, the Assembly can and should send to the presbyteries an amendment that alters G-6.0106b in ways that are more in the spirit of the 2006 AI. Several such amendments have already been proposed in overtures adopted by presbyteries.

    I would also note that this particular ruling has an effect on GLBT persons seeking ordination.  As anyone who follows the PC(USA) is aware, the church has GLBT clergy -- a few like Janie Spahr and Ray Bagnuolo are out, but most are closeted.  The 1978 Definitive Guidance allowed GLBT persons who were already ordained to continue to serve.  Even the further constraints of "fidelity in marriage, chastity in singleness" later added have not been effective in stripping GLBT clergy of their ordination, but rather have limited the ability of GLBT clergy to accept a call in a new Presbytery (as happened with Janie Spahr when she tried to move from the Bay Area to Rochester, New York).

    When I fall on my face with my knees to the rising sun, oh Lord, have mercy on me.

    by Rusty Pipes on Thu Feb 21, 2008 at 09:53:54 AM PDT

    • Thank you for this explanation (5+ / 0-)

      Recommended by:
      Rusty Pipes, vgranucci, dirkster42, Thirst, Absit Invidia

      as a UU (Unitarian Universalist), Presbyterian polity is foreign territory for me. How does much authority does the Presbyterian General Assembly have?  UU's have a General Assembly (same term) once a year which has the final word.  Is this the same for the Presbyterians?

      by Parthenia on Thu Feb 21, 2008 at 10:21:52 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      • The Presbyterian Church (2+ / 0-)

        Recommended by:
        Thirst, Absit Invidia

        has a representational democratic form of governance.  We have three main texts, the Bible, the Book of Confessions and The Book of Order.  The Book of Order is our constitution.  The General Assembly does the legislative work for our denomination (before 2004 every year, but since then for the sake of economy, every other year), passing amendments (overtures) to our constitution.  Each district (Presbytery) elects new clergy and lay delegates to each GA and can also send amendments (overtures) for the GA to consider.  While there is a great deal of diversity in thought and practice among our congregations, Presbyteries and Synods, the decisions of the GA are binding (and since Presbyteries own church property, those who disagree can't just pick up their church and leave.  On the other hand, Presbyterians have a long history of denominational splits and mergers).  

        The office of the General Assembly is our national staff in Louisville which enacts the programs that have been instigated by the GA.  A moderator of the GA is elected at each assembly who leads the meeting during that week and functions as a church ambassador until the next GA meets.  The Permanent Judicial Committee is the highest court for any dispute or disciplinary action in the church.  

        The most powerful person in the Presbyterian Church is the Stated Clerk, a clergy or lay staff person who is elected by a General Assembly every decade or so.  Among other responsibilities, the Stated Clerk interprets the constitution (for example, several years ago, a pastor I knew was asked to perform a Holy Union.  She contacted the Stated Clerk who told her that there was nothing in the Book of Order which forbade it, so she gladly performed the service.  Within a few years, conservatives in the denomination made sure there was something in the Book of Order which forbade it.)  

        You asked a simple question ...

        When I fall on my face with my knees to the rising sun, oh Lord, have mercy on me.

        by Rusty Pipes on Thu Feb 21, 2008 at 01:30:58 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

      • Hi Parthenia, (2+ / 0-)

        Recommended by:
        Thirst, Absit Invidia

        I'm UU too!

        by Shelby Meyerhoff on Thu Feb 21, 2008 at 02:45:52 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

    • Very helpful information.. (3+ / 0-)

      Recommended by:
      Rusty Pipes, Thirst, Absit Invidia

      Rusty Pipes, thanks for contextualizing this story for those of us less familiar with PC(USA)'s denominational history and politics.

      by Shelby Meyerhoff on Thu Feb 21, 2008 at 02:45:16 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

Permalink | 6 comments