wfn.org | Assembly speaks on national and social issues

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Note #6096 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

30-June-2000
GA00148

	Assembly speaks on national and social issues

	by Jane Hines

LONG BEACH, June 30--The 212th General Assembly agreed today   with the
recommendations of the Assembly Committee on National and Social issues on a
variety of national problems.  There was discussion of opposing viewpoints
on most questions, but the report of the committee, chaired by Elder Kathy
Walker of Tampa, Florida, was upheld by a definite majority of affirmative
votes on a list of troubling national issues.

	The Assembly reaffirmed its opposition to organized and institutional forms
of gambling and called upon Presbyterians to refuse to participate in them
as a matter of faith and to join efforts to regulate, restrict, and
eventually to eliminate them.  Bryan Paulson, minister from Grand Canyon
Presbytery, who was a member of the committee, said, "We are not singling
out any one group.  We are trying to challenge everybody's conscience on
this issue."

	Answering an overture from the Presbytery of the Western Reserve, the 212th
General  Assembly reaffirmed the positions of the 171st, 177th, and 189th
General Assemblies of the United Presbyterian Church, and the 106th General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church U.S., and the 197th General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and declare its continuing opposition to
capital punishment.  The report called for "an immediate moratorium on all
executions in all jurisdictions that impose capital punishment."

	Police accountability was addressed through a number of recommendations. 
Local churches will be encouraged to "join in ecumenical and interfaith
efforts to establish community-based efforts designed to evaluate, monitor,
and assist law-enforcement agencies in their efforts to establish and
administer sound policies and procedures that will direct the highest level
of ethical behavior for law-enforcement officers in assuring the fair and
just treatment of all people..."

	An overture on campaign finance reform in society and in the church from
the Presbytery of Hudson River was approved.  Committee Chairperson Walker
commented that the first part of the overture calls on society to be
straightforward and the second part calls on the church to do the same.

	Although some commissioners said the overture on lifting the ban on federal
funds for support of needle exchange programs did not go far enough in
trying to combat drug use, the committee said the overture is designed to
increase protection against HIV/AIDS without increasing substance abuse, and
the overture from the Presbytery of Genesee Valley was approved by 64
percent of commissioners.

	Easy approval by voice vote came for an overture from the Presbytery of
Northern New York on rural community life.  It instructs the Committee on
Mission Responsibility Through Investment to study, in consultation with the
Rural Ministry Advisory Committee, the impact of multinational corporations
on the decline of rural communities and their social fabric, and report back
to the 213th General Assembly in 2001.

	Opinions about the symbolism of the Confederate flag were heard before 76
percent of commissioners voted to approve the committee's response to an
overture from the Presbytery of Detroit.  The response said:  The 212th
General Assembly (2000) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) acknowledges
that the current debate over the placement of the Confederate flag is a
social witness concern that continues to be raised not only in the states of
Georgia and South Carolina, but also in other states across this nation. 
Therefore, in an effort to further promote racial reconciliation in the
church and society, the 212th General Assembly (2000): (1).  Commends the
presbyteries of South Carolina and other Christian organizations that are
working to remove the Confederate flag from government facilities where laws
and public policies are developed and enacted; (2) Directs the stated clerk
to send a resolution to all states that display the Confederate flag on
their capital buildings and grounds urging the removal of this symbol from
their government facilities where laws and public policies, which impact the
lives of all the residents of the said states, are developed and enacted.

	Seventy-nine percent of commissioners approved a recommendation on gun
violence, which reaffirmed all previous General Assembly positions regarding
gun violence, and directed that previous study and resource papers on the
study be updated and reissued.

     A Commissioners' Resolution passed by voice vote, which calls "upon
Presbyterians to support all nonviolent efforts made by a coalition of
Protestant and Catholic churches (including Presbyterians) civic
organizations, and political groups that seek to ensure that the U.S. Navy
permanently stop all military training and bombing on the island of Vieques
in Puerto Rico.

     A special resolution from the Committee on National and Social Issues
was approved: "The 212th General Assembly (2000) directs the Stated Clerk to
encourage presbyteries and their entities, when pursuing particular
overtures that address and affect specific areas of the country, to
communicate and consult with the presbyteries in that area in order to gain
clarification and the appropriate background information."

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