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August 20, 2004/Elul 3 5764, Vol. 56, No.48
Church's act wrong
BRUCE R. JOHNSON
Special to Jewish News
There is an old saying in Jerusalem: If you visit Israel for two weeks, you can write a book. If you visit for six months, you can write an article. If you visit for more than six months, you are not yet ready to begin writing.
This summer, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) not only wrote a book, it threw the book at the Israeli people. At its eight-day-long General Assembly - that biennially produces a dictionary's worth of declarations on everything from fast food to foreign policy - the Presbyterians have started the process of "selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel."
I believe my denomination has erred. In a remarkable moment of naivet‚, it passed this resolution without anticipating the controversy it would create. As the only PC (U.S.A.) pastor whose Presbyterian journey actually began in Israel, it was an especially sad moment for me.
In the late 1970s, I was a college student spending 14 months in Jerusalem as part of my training for the ministry. I had not yet settled on a denomination, but certain things had become clear in my mind and heart: a love of Jewish culture, a fondness for ancient history and archaeology, and a desire to learn Hebrew.
In Jerusalem I ran into the Presbyterians. The Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) has had a mission church in the new city since the British Mandate period. This became my church home.
President Jimmy Carter visited our congregation in 1979 in the midst of the discussions that led to the Camp David Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt. The Baptist pastor in Jerusalem was invited to give the sermon that day. His closing benediction was delivered in Hebrew.
Afterwards, a discussion began in the church courtyard between expatriate Americans. We were all glad to have seen the president but uneasy about what the president was doing. More than one American there questioned the right of our country to determine national security issues for other countries. Did we have a moral right to force others to the table?
The comments were spoken with humility - a virtue I had come to associate with that small community of Presbyterians in Israel. It's the same humble spirit I see every Sunday as I look over the faces at Scottsdale Presbyterian Church where I now serve as pastor.
It has been a culture shock for me, over the last quarter-century, to encounter the striking lack of humility among American Presbyterians at national gatherings. They are rarely afraid to deliver pronouncements on any subject. Most of their declarations, whether on theology or politics, can be summed up in eight words: "That's what you say, but we know better."
The disaster for me is not that my denomination has drawn a moral equivalency between Israel and apartheid South Africa. That slander is as old as the hills. The disaster is that we have drawn a moral equivalency between Israel and Taco Bell (Last year's General Assembly endorsed a boycott of the fast-food chain.) We have trivialized an extremely complex issue and alienated a democracy trying its best to protect innocent lives from terrorism.
The Israeli government is not perfect. What human institution is? American Presbyterians are hardly in a position to cast stones based on only anecdotal understanding. I pray that national church politics does not undermine the many local efforts to promote greater Jewish-Christian understanding. I hope Rabbi Stephen Kahn of Temple Beth Israel and Rabbi Alan Berlin of Temple Solel know me better than that.
In the meantime, I'm ordering another chalupa.
Bruce R. Johnson, D.Min., is pastor at the Scottsdale Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale. He does interfaith programming with Kahn and Berlin.
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