Monday, July 09, 2018
Elder of Ziyon
Well it’s another even-numbered year, which means the Presbyterian
Church in the USA (or PCUSA) got together for their bi-annual
conclave (called a General Assembly) to (1) condemn Israel while ignoring
virtually all other suffering in the Middle East; and (2) put a brave face
their latest membership decline as their denomination continues towards oblivion.
Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, I was somewhat
obsessed with the ups and downs of the Presbyterians, documenting preparations
for each national conference as divestment came onto the agenda even-numbered
year after even-numbered year.
The saga began in 2004 when the organization first passed a
divestment measure, which was rescinded in 2006 after the church came under
attack by both Jewish groups and their own members who were appalled over what
was being said and done in their name.
But, as BDS-watchers know all too well, once an organization
makes any move towards boycott or divestment, the boycotters have already
decided the group belongs to them and exists for one purpose and one purpose
only: to pass resolutions encapsulating their propaganda directed at the Jewish
state.
And so, despite being rejected by the membership, BDS came
back onto the organizations agenda in 2008, 2010 and 2012, being voted down
each time, despite efforts by church leadership to box members into having only
one choice (their preferred one) of returning the church to its 2004 divestment
position.
Now a normal political movement might have gotten the
message by then, or might have seen all of the damage their endless campaigning
was doing to the church in terms of wrecking internal harmony and destroying
the church’s reputation within the wider American society. But, as we all know, BDS is not in the normal
business. And so the campaign continued
as more and members left PCUSA (either as individuals or as whole congregations
which defected to other Presbyterian branches not so obsessed with politics),
and as the reputation of the church for fairness and faithful witness also
headed into a tailspin.
When divestment was passed in 2004, it was possible for
PCUSA leaders to convince the public that this was the democratic vote that
represented the will of the membership.
But after watching the corrupt leadership of the organization ally with
BDS advocates to stack committees considering Middle East issues only with
divestment supporters, remove anyone who could make trouble from positions of
leadership, refuse members access to information and voices that contradict the
BDS narrative, and insist that any “No” vote was just a postponement of an
inevitable “Yes,” it became clear well before divestment was restored in 2014
that these votes demonstrated nothing but the lengths to which a degenerate
organization would go to hand its reputation over to someone else.
When divestment was voted back in that year, the Jewish
community decided enough was enough, refusing bad-faith calls to enter into
interfaith dialog with a church dedicated to slapping Jews in the face every
two years (all while claiming such slaps were given out of love and concern for
their Jewish brethren).
In the meantime, the steady decline of the church continued
as PCUSA coupled passage of new anti-Israel calumnies at their bi-annual events
with tracking losses of another 5% of its membership. Issues of anti-Israel animus and collapse of
the organization are actually linked.
For as members died or left the church in disgust, those that remained
represented a higher concentration of Israel haters. This was represented by a tendency we see in
all organizations where the BDSers think they have the upper hand: overreach. And so, with divestment in their back pocket,
the church moved on to condemning Zionism and those that support the Jewish
national movement, adding slurs like “Apartheid” to the mix once they realized
there were no longer enough fair-minded members ready to stand in their way.
But as the Israel haters wallowed in their “victory” within
PCUSA, no one seemed to notice that their pronouncements no longer made news,
or even a ripple in the pubic consciousness.
Two decades ago, one could claim that a major religious organization
making proclamations and condemnations represented moral statements informed by
faith that should be taken seriously.
But seeing how sausage (in the form of the aforementioned corrupt votes)
gets made at General Assemblies for more than 15 years, who could possibly see
their statements as expressions of sincere love and faith, rather than the
output of venal politics?
Given that the number of Presbyterians nationwide is about
to fall below the number of Jews just in New York, it’s also not clear why we
need to take what they say any more seriously than they listen to us.
When I was more directly involved with helping those
fighting anti-Israel bigotry in the church, I was frequently accused of being
an outsider with no real concern for PCUSA and its members, beyond what they
were saying about Israel. As I responded
then (and continue to respond now): while it’s true I never would have come
into PCUSA’s orbit had they not chosen to get into my face in such an
aggressive manner, I’m perfectly comfortable that Israel will survive the
slings and arrows of a hypocritical and dying organization.
But as someone who appreciates the important role
Mainline Protestantism has played in American history, my fear is
not for my own tribe but for what it means when this important pillar of
national identity gets shattered with the pieces being dragged into the swamp,
just so a bunch of anti-Israel bigots can claim to speak in someone else’s
name.
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