The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), through the Office on the Middle East, the Iraq Partnership Network, and other programs, continues to lift up the plight of Iraqi refugees and displaced persons. Through the Peace Fund for Solidarity with the Churches of Iraq (Extra Commitment Opportunity account #E051722) and the Jinishian Memorial Program, the PC(USA) has also assisted the churches of the region, through the Middle East Council of Churches, as they address this crisis. The GAC supports the call to the United States government to alleviate the suffering of Iraqi refugees. Part of that effort could involve working with other nations, …
The purpose of this study paper is to state more fully the Christian basis for the "costly lessons" affirmed in the resolution (now in Appendix A) and for the directions signaled in its title, "to repent, to restore, to rebuild and to reconcile." In practical terms, repentance can simply mean changing the direction of our policy, but it means here changing assumptions about how international relations are done. Similarly, the bipartisan Iraq Study Group (Baker?Hamilton Commission) speaks frequently of the need for "national reconciliation" in Iraq, building on dialogue, equitable sharing of oil and other resources, and even?controversial "amnesty" for …
Increasingly, we find that we are living in a world with numerous walls and barriers. These are walls that force us to live in sometimes small and isolated compartments. These walls and the resulting compartments often prevent us from seeing and understanding the lives of others who live in different compartments or on the other side of the wall from us. These walls are leading many to live in fear, isolation, and poverty; therefore, preventing all parties from living in peace. This is no more obvious than with the conflict in Israel and Palestine. Ideological, theological, political, economic, and even …
As a Christian community based in the United States, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) affirms our heritage of separating government from religious control and yet allowing faith communities to witness for fair and wise public policies. In the Arab world, and the larger Muslim world, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) supports practices of mutual respect, tolerance, and understanding based on principles of international law and diplomacy. Aware of historic differences between Muslim and Christian understandings, the church sees these addressed best through dialogue, diplomacy, and respectful presence that recognize the importance of religion in societies. This approach is to give religious leaders …
Responding to a 2014 request for a report on Cuba and US policy, the General Assembly anticipated and went further than the Obama Administration in recommending normalization and understanding changes already underway. Building on the strong relationship maintained between the Presbyterian-Reformed Church of Cuba and the PCUSA since the 1959 Revolution, and with the help of the Cuba Partners Network, this report looks at the transition from an atheistic to a secular state, social achievements and human rights challenges, and the counter-productive role of the US embargo and other official hostility, long after the Cold War and international scorn for …
The repeated failure of the peace process in Israel-Palestine is also a failure of national and international politics to address the human rights of a people kept stateless by military occupation and exile. This report reviews the status of the “two-state” solution, but it does not engage in further political solutions-thinking, given the limited support for a Palestinian state by the United States and the international community in the face of Israeli government resistance. As a church based in the United States, we continue to believe that both Israel and the Middle East would be safer if Palestine were a …
We need to face our fears and insecurities honestly as pastoral issues of central significance. We need to develop the resources that will enable us through mutual support to venture in faith to enter new friendships with the confidence that God will continue to open the way for future steps. Let us challenge ourselves to trust in the promises of God that God's Kingdom will be on earth as it is in Heaven. The vision of God's Kingdom calls us to participate in God's work by breaking down barriers, healing divisions, guarding each person's dignity, advocating for the voiceless, and …
As the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) seeks to increase its diversity and expand its ministries to racial, ethnic, and cultural minorities, we find that increasing numbers of immigrant workers are present in our midst. Our friendship with these neighbors can become a window to a deeper realization of the cruelties and vulnerabilities many immigrants experience in the U.S. The church is called to witness to the reconciliation that Christ brings to the world. It is no cheap covering over?of divisions and differences. Instead, reconciliation points?to a dynamic unity of richly diverse humankind in which justice is established and each one is …
As the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) seeks to increase its diversity and expand its ministries to racial, ethnic, and cultural minorities, we find that increasing numbers of immigrant workers are present in our midst. Our friendship with these neighbors can become a window to a deeper realization of the cruelties and vulnerabilities many immigrants experience in the U.S. The church is called to witness to the reconciliation that Christ brings to the world. It is no cheap covering over?of divisions and differences. Instead, reconciliation points?to a dynamic unity of richly diverse humankind in which justice is established and each one is …
An overall look at the work of the churches in relation to their advocacy for human rights observance suggests that they will undertake activities that promote respect for human rights based on both their faith as well as their commitment to the establishment and maintenance of a healthy and vibrant civil society. The Middle East Council of Churches has been promoting this view for over a decade, and is now in the process of implementing a project on 'the role of churches in human rights awareness and advocacy'. While this may not suit all contexts, it has generated positive reviews …