Reprinted with permission, June 2022
Editor’s Note: The United Methodist Church in Iowa is one of our member bodies here at Iowa Peace Network. I received this information about the Iowa Annual Conference of the UMC adopting these two resolutions, also a talking points document, printed immediately below. Thanks to Kathleen McQuillen for sharing these with me.
We would welcome information from other church bodies on their church business this summer regarding peace issues, as well.
1. AC (Annual Conference) Resolution on Unjust Theology submitted by First UMC (Des Moines)
Talking Points (By Christine Anders, Eloise Cranke, Kathleen McQuillen)
1. The state of Israel claims the land of promise was given
unconditionally to Israel and the ongoing community of the Jews in a promise
made to Abraham and ancestors in Genesis and Exodus.
2. A very different understanding of the land is offered in the covenant tradition of Deuteronomy and the prophets where the land is held conditionally, depending on obedience to the Torah. Deuteronomy and the prophets assert that the land is losable. Land is given unconditionally but is held conditionally.
3. When it comes to
the Bible and the land, the question is do we read it with a welcome to the
other or the exclusion of the other. We should be skeptical and suspicious of
any reading of the Bible that excludes the other. The reach of the gracious God
of the Bible is toward the other. When we read it with the idea of exclusion,
it is likely to be informed by vested interest, fears and hopes that serve
self-protection. (This issue of
exclusion or inclusion is one the Christian church also struggles with. Who is
in and who is out?)
Theologian Walter
Brueggemann notes it is a mistake to:
a. Assume
an easy and complete identity between the ancient Israel of the Bible and the
contemporary state of Israel.
b. To
assume that because of a biblical legacy, contemporary Israel is entitled to
the land and that the Palestinians are not.
c. To
connect the current state of Israel to some imagined messianic timeline that
results in unilateral support for Israel.
d. To
permit theological categories to blind us to the facts on the ground that
entail occupation, oppression, and suffering.
The following is
taken from the United Methodist for Kairos Response (UMKR):
a.
The promises god made to Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob in Genesis were never limited to their descendants alone, but included
people of many other races.
b.
Land given unconditionally but is kept on the
condition that the Torah is followed. They must do what is right and good in
the Lord’s sight. This includes justice.
c.
The land itself must not be worshipped as a
false god. Israel is told to love God and love neighbor.
d.
The land belongs to God. It is on loan from God.
A word on Zionism:
Zionism is a
modern political movement growing out of antisemitism in Europe in late 1800s.
(see Theodor Herzl) Secular Jews organized conferences and determined safety
for Jewish people could best be secured through the political establishment of
a Jewish nation-state. Zionism then is primarily a political movement. Some see
it as a national liberation movement while others see it as a colonial
movement. Either way its creation was to answer a political problem.
“… Zionism has
become the false messiah…” -Rabbi Brant
Rosen, author “Wrestling in the Daylight-A Rabbi’s Path to Palestinian
Solidarity”
2. Resolution passed by Annual Conference UMC
Opposition
to Unjust Theology Regarding the Holy Land
WHEREAS many
Christians adhere to the theology of Christian Zionism, believing that the
modern state of Israel is a continuation of biblical Israel and a fulfillment
of biblical prophecy and that “it is the responsibility of Christians to
support the State of Israel and its policies,”1 and
WHEREAS the New
Testament does not prophesy a modern Israeli state controlled by any single
group of people, but does envision a time when Christ will have eliminated “the
dividing wall of hostility” between Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:14), and
WHEREAS a
statement endorsed by thirteen bishops and patriarchs of Palestinian Christian
churches says that Western Christians have attached “biblical and theological
legitimacy to the infringement of our rights” and calls on their fellow
Christians to “deepen their reflection on the Word of God and to rectify their
interpretations” and avoid “any use of the Bible to legitimize or support
political options and positions that are based upon injustice,”2 and
WHEREAS Christian
Zionism is having a significant and dangerous impact on U.S. policy regarding
Israel,
THEREFORE, BE IT
RESOLVED that the _______________¬¬¬¬¬_ Conference of the United Methodist Church
declares its opposition to any theology or biblical interpretation that would
justify denying or violating the human rights of Palestinians
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the _________________ Conference calls on its bishop to establish
a task force to explore and identify the biblical and theological reasons for
opposing Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people
3. First UMC (Des Moines) Gun Resolution
Passed at the 2022 Iowa UMC Annual Conference.
WHEREAS, in our baptismal covenant we “accept the freedom
and power God gives to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms
the present themselves” and; WHEREAS, we continue to face the evil of mass
shootings, most recently at a store in Buffalo, a church in Los Angeles, an
school in Uvalde, Texas, a hospital in Tulsa, and numerous incidents of gun
violence in Iowa including at a school in Des Moines, a night club in Cedar
Rapids, and a church in Ames; WHEREAS the General Conference resolved (2016
Book of Resolutions #3428) For United Methodist congregations to advocate at
the local and national level for laws that prevent or reduce gun violence,
including universal background checks, increasing the age for purchase, renewal
of the assault weapons ban, and prohibitions for persons who are a risk to
themselves or others. THEREFORE, we call Iowa United Methodists to oppose and
vote to defeat the “Iowa Right to Keep and Bear Arms Amendment.”1 The amendment
would recognize this as a fundamental individual right and would require any
and all restrictions to this right be subject to strict scrutiny. FURTHER BE IT
RESOLVED, we the Iowa Annual Conference call upon the Iowa state leadership and
Congressional Delegation to support and act upon responsible firearms legislation.
To this end, upon approval, the Episcopal Office will send General Conference
resolution 3428 to Governor Kim Reynolds, Senator Chuck Grassley, Senator Joni
Ernst, Congressman Randy Feenstra, Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, Congresswoman
Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Congresswoman Cindy Axne. 1
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=89&ba=SJR7
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