Let The Presbyterian Without Shortcomings Cast The First Criticism

Frederick Meekins 
06/01/2003

Having tossed aside traditional understandings of the Bible and the Christian faith, churches belonging to so-called "mainline" denominations often end-up enunciating positions on social issues that defy commonsense and ignore concerns of greater moral and religious significance.

For shopping convenience, retailers offer prepackaged Easter baskets complete with the traditional confections and usually a small gift such as a toy or coloring book. Sounds innocent enough, but in this day of rampant political correctness not much time has to pass before every single innocent thing in the world ends up offending at least one apoplectic activist.

The Peace and Justice Committee of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia has come out in opposition to these prepackaged Easter baskets containing toy soldiers sold at Wal-Mart and K-Mart. Of these toys, the group's chair told the Associated Press, "This is completely antithetical to the message of Easter."

Since when was the last time the leadership of the PC-USA gave a hoot about traditional Christian teaching and doctrine? From the kinds of things promoted by the crowd running the PC-USA, it's a wonder why the denomination bothers celebrating Easter at all.

Fundamentalist researcher David Cloud of Way Of Life Literature has chronicled a number of these theological shortcomings in a rather informative article. According to Cloud's research, only 5% of that church's clergy and only 16% of the parishioners believe the Bible should be taken literally.

In 1982, this denomination ordained Mansfield Kaseman despite his denial of the divinity of Christ, His sinless nature, and bodily resurrection. This apostate quipped, "I believe in the resurrection without necessarily believing in the bodily resurrection." If Jesus, like John Brown, lies a moldin' in the grave, then what's the point of Easter or of even being a Christian for that matter? I Corinthians 15:19 says, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."

Others within this church seek to outright blend Christianity with other religions to form a bland syncretistic stew. One Korean Presbyterian at a conference in the early 90's promoting goddess worship commented, "My bowel is Buddhist bowel." My suggestion would be to see a gastroenterologist.

The PC-USA might strive for inoffensive indistinctiveness in terms of its theological ruminations; however, it is shockingly blunt in its enthusiasm for sociopolitical controversy. David Cloud writes, "The Brief Statement of Faith approved at the 1991 General Assembly of the PC-USA contained no clear affirmation of the Trinity; made no reference to Heaven, Hell, or the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, but it affirmed sexual equality and environmental concerns." Likewise, a quick perusal of the denomination's homepage would acquaint the casual websurfer more with this outfit's outlandish politics than its doctrinal beliefs.

Big deal, you might shrug, many ecclesiastical associations release statements on issues of pressing social relevance. However, most of the time these don't come to predominate the organizational message, and if they do play a prominent role at least they have Biblical justification underlying these positions. But since the Good Book does not enjoy particularly high standing in the PC-USA, there is essentially nothing keeping their radicalism in check.

For example, according to Presbyterians Pro-Life, an organization of righteous insurgents within that denomination lobbying for reform, the current PC-USA position on abortion is as follows: "...the considered decision to terminate a pregnancy can be morally acceptable... Our denomination's sexuality curriculum teaches that it can be an act of faithfulness before God to intervene in the natural process of pregnancy and terminate it."

This is not to be taken as a way of solemnly recognizing those rare and carefully defined instances where a pregnancy might have to be regrettably ended as the only way to save the mother's life. The PC-USA hubristically declares, "Our denomination pays for abortion, without restriction, through its own medical benefits plan." About as nauseating as if Scott Peterson had admitted he was proud to be a wife and baby killer.

With this and other moral rot eating away at this denomination such as the ongoing fracas over homosexuality, one would think that the parishioners of Westminster Presbyterian would have more than enough on their moral plates than to get up in arms over a toy soldier encamped within an Easter basket. But upon closer examination one discovers it's not so much the commercialization of Easter that some within the PC-USA oppose but rather the values and ideals embodied by the dedicated professionals protecting this great nation.

The spokeswoman of the Westminster Presbyterian Peace and Justice Committee mused, "Putting war toys in Easter baskets is teaching children that war is a game. " She'd better pray that somewhere along the line that the little boys of today pick up a toy tank, fighter plane, or soldier so that liberty might be kept alive yet another generation. The next generation of Marines won't come from a bunch of feminized male students sitting around braiding Barbie's hair and spilling their feelings to the school shrink.

Yet there is more at stake than what some misconstrue as the militarization of America's youth. What the PC-USA puts on the chopping block is the very right to defend this nation against the fanatical enemies that would destroy it. The PC-USA has more on its website to undermine the war effort than about the horrors of abortion.

As part of its confession, the PC-USA professes, "The church...is called to practice forgiveness of enemies and to commend to the nations as practical politics the search for cooperation and peace...even at the risk to national security to reduce areas of strife and to broaden international understanding."

Liberal Presbyterians are free to paint bull's-eyes on themselves and become targets for terrorists by refusing to stand up to those who would destroy them and their families. But that is not a decision the President can afford to impose upon the remainder of us. This opposition to all things related to the military has assumed such irrational levels that these dogmatic pacifists even exorcised the timeless classic "Onward Christian Soldiers" from their official hymnal.

Much of this "peace" activism is conducted under the auspices of the National Council of Churches, to which the PC-USA ranks among the largest contributors. From the propaganda spewing from this hovel of heretics, one would assume them to be dogmatic pacifists and George W. Bush the greatest villain to trod the earth asunder since Ghengis Khan. Actually, the situation is more that the National Council never met a Commie it didn't like.

For while the United States is not suppose to defend itself against terrorist aggression, such a position does not prevent the Council of Churches from endorsing questionable governments, backing vile despots, and supporting revolutions of regrettable outcomes. Most notably, the Council is remembered for its notorious support of the Marxist Sandinistas in Nicaragua

Leftist clerics will attempt to dismiss this fact as an over-site of Cold War enthusiasm where Socialists often seduced naive Liberals with talk of economic egalitarianism and other related drivel. However, this support for tyranny continues to this very day.

Part of this support comes in the form of neglect by failing to comprehend world conditions as they actually exist. According to Mark Tooley of the Institute On Religion and Democracy, the NCC conscientiously ignores the persecution by the Red Chinese and North Korean regimes, dutifully swallowing the propaganda put forth by the sham front churches set up by these dictatorships.

However, the NCC does more than passively obey orders emanating from Moscow, Beijing, or from whatever other dank corner of the globe the minions of tyranny happen to be cowering in at any given moment. This ecclesiastical rogues gallery eagerly supports and finances revolutionary subversive movements around the world.

Even though the Council of Churches hems and haws over nearly everything President Bush does, they apparently have little problem snuggling up to one of Africa's most brutal thugs. The World Council of Churches --- of which the National Council is a part and thus the PC-USA --- finances the Fund To Combat racism, a program that backs the political party of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe. Mugabe, the few remaining informed Americans might recall, is infamous for confiscating land from White farmers and persecuting Blacks from tribes civilized enough to oppose his Marxist nonsense. Seems the Fund to Combat Racism is not so much colorblind as it is blind to the injustices it imposes upon those happening to be a politically incorrect color.

It has been noted that the PC-USA is at a crossroads with, in all likelihood, the few remaining Evangelicals in the denomination eventually growing so disgusted with its apostasy that they will come to their senses and flee this sinking theological ship. Those remaining who embrace the ethical swill described herein ought not bother calling themselves Christians at all.

Frederick B. Meekins

American WorldView Dispatch

Copyright 2003 by Frederick Meekins

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