Imagine the Quaker
an erstwhile mirror site for weblog on newquaker.com
archives | newquaker.comSaturday, December 11, 2004
On going in the out exit. I don't see it mentioned often that the American model of democracy is difficult to reproduce, although our current President seems to think that it's darn easy to do.[1] When we look at efforts to create a democratic representative government in countries previously governed by despots, dictators, or monarchs, we ought to see results that look pretty much like what preceded them. The difference between them and us is that we didn't start with a strong centralized federal system, but came to it through clusters of neighborhoods, villages, towns, counties, and states—and only then were we able to strike a balance between localized values and interests and those of a federal government. That balancing tension still exists today. Some have even put forth our Civil War as a grand achievement for the American model. What we are doing in Afghanistan and Iraq is to set up a mimicry of the system we extol as the pinnacle of what democracy can make of a nation of differences. To create a strong federal system independently of the strength that emerges from state-like interests is to build the foundation for another poisonous environment in which to breed a new version of old tyranny.
1. An exception to this is the competent May 2003 roundtable report Establishing a Stable Democratic Constitutional Structure in Iraq: Some Basic Considerations[.pdf] prepared by the international pro bono law firm Public International Law & Policy Group.
posted by Merle Harton, Jr. 1:10 AM
Sunday, December 05, 2004
On disciplining Bush and Cheney. Consider the following four contemporary events.
- November 20, 2004: Bush Arrested. Canada charges president for war crimes. US President George W. Bush was taken into custody this morning by Canadian authorities during his two day visit with Prime Minister Paul Martin.
- A lesbian pastor was found guilty and defrocked on December 2nd when a jury of United Methodist clergy ruled that she had violated church law barring actively gay clergy.[1]
- United Methodists call for accountable leadership and bring a letter of complaint against President Bush and Vice President Cheney for their chargeable offenses of crime, immorality, disobedience to the order and discipline of the United Methodist Church (UMC), and dissemination of doctrine contrary to the established doctrinal standards of the UMC.[2]
- The ABC, CBS, and NBC networks have refused to run an ad by the United Church of Christ because the networks believe the ad is advocacy advertising.[3]
What do these four things have in common? Well, the first is really just a hijacked page spoofing CNN's international online news site. The second, third, and fourth are real events—but all four point straight to our very human need for accountability, especially where faith convictions are concerned.
That is one very real purpose of the historical books of discipline. The Religious Society of Friends disciplined its meeting membership through Books of Discipline well into the 20th century, as have mainline Christians.[4] While leadership of the Episcopal Church USA continues to chase its tail over the high-profile election of the Rt Rev V. Gene Robinson as New Hampshire's openly gay bishop, other mainline American churches are discovering that their continued identity within denominations depends upon a discipline structure in order to remain relevant. While the United Methodist Church (UMC) was successful in disciplining a member of its clergy, defrocking her through its trial process, its toughest test will surely be the discipline of its two very high profile church members, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Written by two UMC members, Rev Courtney Ball and Josh Steward, the Letter of Complaint calls for "accountability and repentance from these two members for their sinful behavior" and "for their chargeable offenses of crime, immorality, disobedience to the order and discipline of The United Methodist Church (UMC), and dissemination of doctrine contrary to the established standards of doctrine of The UMC."[5] The Letter currently has 850 signatures and it will be sent out when that number reaches 1,000.
Which brings me to the issue of the ad by the United Church of Christ and the deplorable behavior of the corporate networks for their censorious and surely insincere rejection of the 30-second ad. NBC said the problem with the ad was it implied that other religions are not open to all people. It's strange that they would spurn the ad for that reason. What I find conspicuous about the ad is not at all what it says about inclusion, nor about the United Church of Christ's interest in opening its doors to all persons, sinners and saints alike. It is that it correctly depicts the classic mainline congregation and the purpose to which it has been reduced—to shepherd the faithful, to pastor the flock. While the ad looks like a Christ-like call to love all human beings, instead it is really more a call to enter a house where you can hear whatever it is you want to hear, where you can enjoy a real feel-good service, where you can drink and eat a sweet meal at the Lord's fast-food Supper. Whatever its avowed message, the United Church of Christ is really saying far more than that all are welcome within its doors: It is saying that no one will be disciplined.1. York Daily Record, December 3, 2004. News article archived at Religion News Blog. The 13-member jury voted 7-to-6 to defrock the Rev Irene Elizabeth "Beth" Stroud, associate pastor of Philadelphia's First United Methodist Church of Germantown, despite the support of her congregation and her senior pastor, the Rev. Alfred Day III. Bishop Jane Allen Middleton of the Central Pennsylvania Conference said in e-mail that the trial was held according to the Book of Discipline, the guide for all United Methodists in the 8.3 million member denomination.
2. The authors of the formal Letter of Complaint say: "We are taking this action as Christians who are desperate to hold two of our own accountable. We, as United Methodists, understand that it is our duty to support and encourage our members and our leaders, and we have been doing so faithfully through prayers and petitions. But enough is enough. The guidance of our bishops and our church-members has been ignored by the respondents for too long. Too many people have died or suffered from the sins of these two men. Now it is time for them to answer for their actions with repentance, to turn back and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, or to be judged for not doing so." The letter is located online at TheyMustRepent.com.
3. CNN, December 2, 2004. "The 30-second spot, run by the United Church of Christ, features two muscle-bound bouncers standing outside a church, selecting people who could attend service and those who could not. Among those kept out are two males who appear to be a couple. Written text then appears saying, in part, 'Jesus didn't turn people away, neither do we.'" The news story is archived at Religion News Blog. The 30-second video can be viewed online at stillspeaking.com.
4. See Licia Kuenning's The Old Discipline (Quaker Heritage Press, 1999). This book reproduces the 19th-century books of discipline of the eight oldest Quaker yearly meetings in America: Baltimore, Indiana, New England, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Philadelphia, and Virginia. Each is presented in an early 19th-century book for that meeting, with later versions expressed in notes. These were chosen because they were extant prior to the bitter Quaker separation of 1827-28. The rules of discipline set forth guidelines for the proper conduct of members of the Religious Society of Friends, but also supplied customs for the expression of faith and worship. It was here that one could find what was corporately acceptable in the event of births or burials, our duty to civil government, the admission of convinced Friends, the issue of hireling ministers, marriages and the exchange of vows (including the marriage certificate to be used), moderation and temperance, uttering oaths, plainness in speech and dress, slavery and the keeping of slaves, sleeping during meetings, membership in secret societies, our relationship to taverns and distilled spiritous liquors, trade, war, disownment, etc.
5. See Letter of Complaint at TheyMustRepent.com.
posted by Merle Harton, Jr. 9:28 PM
© Merle Harton, Jr. All rights reserved. Biblical references are NIV® unless otherwise noted.
