WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of more than 120 Methodists have taken out a magazine ad asking President George W. Bush to repent. The “prophetic epistle” appeared in The Christian Century magazine and asked Bush to repent of his policies that were “incompatible” with Christian teaching.
The large group of Methodists signed the document entitled “A Prophetic Epistle from United Methodists Calling Our Brother George W. Bush to Repent,” including seven United Methodist Church bishops.
“It is our judgment that some policies advanced by your administration give evidence of the spiritual forces of wickedness that exist in our society today,” the ad read.
Signers of the document included outspoken UMC bishops Joseph Sprague and Melvin Talbert, and Board of Church and Society general secretary Jim Winkler. Sprague and Winkler were arrested earlier this year for breaking through a police barricade during...
It is not really good enough for commentators to accuse the UMC as 'nuts'. To engage with other Christians we must do so with love and respect, even though we might not agree. My own view is that it is true that the President, like my Prime Minister, is saved by Jesus but only they and God know this for sure. To criticise the leaders of nations is not something we should shy away from. The war in Iraq will prove to be the klling ground for ordinary British and American soldiers. Saddam has gone but Bush and Blair may end up rueing the day they used falsehoods to justify it.
I think the Methodist need to repent John Wesley must turn in his grave for some of the things that the Medthodist have allowed. President bush has more convictions then most Methodist Leaders.
Key issue for Bush here is that he ignores the Constitution, not that the transgressions against it appear to be relatively benign so far. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance, and we must assume that whatever powers we grant the government will eventually fall into the hands of wicked men.
Sundays paper had an article by Michele Malkin that reports on an internal Justice Department report regarding the Post-Sept 11 detainees. Her article high-lights the false claims and exaggerations of the Liberal press. Of the 762 detainees only 24 took more than a month and the report shows why. While there was some harassment, the individual was fired and the allegations didn't warrant Criminal proceedings. Don't worry Robert, things at the Justice Dept are fine!
I understand how you feel, I am a little nervous about losing my rights. I just don't think that things are that bad yet. I do agree with you whole-heartedly about arming Commerical Pilots and closing the borders. Maybe, if ordinary citizens patroled the border, then the Government would have to intervene.
DM, I'm not much of a fan of Lincoln or FDR for those reasons and others. Maybe we should send you north and me south? :^)
Seriously, I don't buy the "extraordinary times" thing. Seems to me that we need more ordinary measures in peacetime that will protect us when we're in conflict. Stuff like arming the former officers who fly our airliners, enforcing immigration laws, etc..
Lincoln did away with the "writ of hebias corpus" during the Civil War. FDR put the California Japanese in camps. It could be that "Extraordinary times, make extraordinary measures" necessary. As far as the WMD's are concerned, I will paraphrase the Democrats from before the Iraqy War. "Give it time!". I thought the RCC was the most genocidal organization is history, don't tell me we have competition! I tell the Pope to swipe out Costa Rica. If you are still nervous about the Inquistion, maybe you have some issues too! Could be a guilty conscious. All men have some repenting to do, but Bush is a good man.
I, a former Methodist, agree that the UMC is nuts--at least at its national administrative levels. They forgot about this "Jesus" guy about a century ago.
However, let us consider that there are reasonable grounds to oppose the President:
1. He signed the Patriot Act and the Campaign Finance Reform bills, both of which are blatantly un-Constitutional.
2. We have yet to document the "weapons of mass destruction" Iraq was supposed to have. I'm not sorry to see Saddam gone, but....
3. We're still conducting diplomacy through one of the most genocidal organizations in history, the United Nations.
4. He claims to be born-again and yet gets his fellowship from the UMC.
So yes, the man does have some repenting to do. The article is good as well.
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