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Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodist News |
November 2001 |
What do YOU think?
The Hoosier United Methodist News welcomes all letters to the editor. In order to be considered for publication, letters must be signed and should include the name of your local church along with a daytime phone number for verification purposes. All letters may be subject to editing for clarity or length. Deadline for each upcoming issue is the 15th of the month.
Our wish is to provide a forum wherein all voices and points of view have an equal opportunity to be heard.
Send to Editor, Hoosier UM News, 1100 W. 42nd St., Suite 210, Indianapolis, IN. 46208; fax: 317.924.4859; e-mail: Editor
Taking issue with cartoon
I was shocked to see the cartoon on page 26 of the September HUM News (" … preachers take the Hypocritic oath.") How dare you degrade the call by God to ministry. I am ashamed to be associated with a publication that would print something so offensive to the people in ministry.
A.L. Burk
First UMC, HobartEditor's note: We apologize to you and to others who may have been offended by this particular cartoon. Jonny Hawkins, the cartoonist, is a committed Christian. Neither he nor this publication meant to give offense. Rather, in the tradition of editorial page cartoons, it is meant to spark thought and, perhaps, self-examination in all of us.
More listening, less talk
I believe Rev. Jerry Falwell may have come to a time in his ministry when he should do more listening and less talking. His comments after the tragedy in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, were outrageous, totally misrepresented Christianity, and rubbed salt into the wounds of already hurting people.
To say that the events on Sept. 11 were God's judgment on America because of the ACLU, and all of the feminists, gays, lesbians and abortionists, was inappropriate and suggested that the terrorists, who killed so many innocent people, were actually agents of God. Falwell needs to wake up to the fact that God doesn't use terrorists to effect his will, he uses people who love!
I think that Rev. Falwell might take a look at the New Testament book of James 3: 5 and 6, as well as the many passages in the Book of Proverbs, about the dangers of the unbridled tongue.
Given his propensity to speak first and think second, it may be time for him to retire from the airwaves.
Daniel J. Berger, Pastor
First UMC, South Bend
Christian opposition to war
I find the leap of logic from the popular rhetoric, "evil must be stopped and opposed" to "war must be used to do this" to be naïve at best, especially from the position of Jesus' teaching and the practice of early Christianity, which refused to engage in warfare.
Scripture teaches that "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." And in clear instruction to his disciples, Jesus requires them to love their enemies, do good to those who persecute them and pray for them. There is no distinction in the ethics of Jesus or the early church between an application of this to individuals or to nations. The rule is universal. The airlifts of humanitarian supplies to Afghanistan are a possible, if a bit cynical and terribly miniscule, kind of response along those lines.
Does this mean that this is the only answer for everyone in the world? No. But it is the requirement for us as disciples of Jesus and part of the holy nation, called "church." Since Christ (not Caesar) is our Lord and Savior, he calls the shots and sets forth for us the logic we are to use in understanding how we are to proceed in such circumstances as individuals and as a people.
It is no accident nor sign of "wishy washy liberalism" that the United Methodist Church opposes war as a means of national policy. It is faithfulness to early Christian orthodoxy at its best.
If God will, in the end or by indirection, use military means to effect God's own vengeance, so be it. That is God's prerogative. But that is not God's particular calling for us as God's people. Instead, we are to use the weapons of righteousness -- prayer, finding and working for means to create wholeness, justice, and stability -- weapons which would completely disarm the arguments and undermine the credibility and power of the terrorists who act against the "terrorism" that "Christians" enact on them.
Taylor Burton-Edwards, Associate Pastor
First UMC, Anderson
Muslim friends afraid to leave home
Two days after Sept. 11, I brought blueberry muffins to an Arab-Muslim family I knew through my daughter's school. Their daughter had not been in school for two days and I wanted them to know that someone cared about them. When this family opened the door for me that morning, they opened a very personalized perspective of recent events.
The parents of this close-knit family, Ahmed and Leila (pseudonyms) had a pressing need to assure me that they did not commit any terrorist acts. They said the Islamic faith clearly teaches that killing is wrong.
The family had not left their home since the attacks. They had not visited nor made or received any phone calls to or from their Bloomington Arab friends, for fear of coming under suspicion. Their TV, with both U.S. and Arab channels, showed the horror and destruction of the terrorist attack, and they wept openly for the Americans who were killed. But their viewing was regularly interrupted by phone calls from concerned relatives living halfway around the world, urging them to come home immediately.
The family had moved to Bloomington about three years ago so that Ahmed could oversee a special project for his company. Leila was now working on her Master degree and caring for their three young children.
The family now feared leaving the house. Leila felt most vulnerable since she covers her head with a scarf, as is the custom for many Arab women. She told me that she preferred to stay home rather than face being cursed, spat upon, or worse. She said she knew most Americans were good people, but she had seen news reports of assaults on Arab-Americans, Arabs and Muslims.
A neighbor, learning of their plight, offered to do some grocery shopping and small errands. "This is our body guard," Leila said one day to a saleswoman at Sears, pointing to their neighbor and new friend. They all laughed, but the truth sliced through the laughter.
Daily, the family has had to redefine their world and evaluate once-familiar places as "safe" or "not safe."
Then, the US bombings of Afghanistan began Oct. 7.. Leila was filled with even more intense fear than before. Arab TV news programs reported a common belief that as the war escalates, so will the misguided revenge against the Muslim and Arab community in the U.S. Although there is no official counting, thousands of Arabs have left the U.S. out of fear of reprisals.
Ahmed and Leila are resolved not to leave, but this decision weighs heavily on Leila, especially in light of the wars she has lived through in her home country. Ahmed knows that he and his family will be living a much more restricted life, constantly evaluating where they can and cannot go.
In addition to the exchange of ideas, cultures and perspectives, laughter abounds when Ahmed and Leila gather with their friends. One realizes this family is just like any other. They simply wish to live peacefully and give thanks to God for the splendor of creation.
Can we hear the dialogue? Can we hear God's voice? Can we, as United Methodists, become a part of the dialogue?
C.J. Hawking, clergy member,
Northern Illinois Conference,
living in Bloomington.
Last updated on 01/14/2004