J. Herbert Nelson II
As the government shutdown/debt ceiling crisis neared its conclusion last week, the chief Presbyterian Church (USA) lobbyist joined a left-leaning religious coalition in blaming Republicans.
The Rev. J. Herbert Nelson II, director of the denomination’s Office of Public Witness, participated in an Oct. 15 “Pilgrimage for Courage and the Common Good” through the halls of the Cannon House Office Building in Washington. The PCUSA News Service reported that marchers delivered a letter “at the offices of key members whose influence and good faith is crucial to ending this political standoff.”
“As people of faith and conscience,” the letter said, “we urge you to place shared democratic values above short-term political expediency, exercise the courage to fund our nation’s government, raise the debt limit without preconditions and get back to work on a faithful budget that serves the common good.”
The advocacy of “clean” debt ceiling and budget resolutions “without preconditions” corresponded precisely with the position taken by the Obama administration and congressional Democrats. In the past, such fiscal measures have often had conditions attached by Congress.
The letter denounced “a minority in Congress who are powerful within their own party but unable to create legislative change within the bounds of due process.” It warned of a political apocalypse: “Blocking routine but essential functions of government to extract specific policy concessions could destroy America’s democratic process.” These harsh words were clearly directed against House Republicans who were seeking to stop or delay the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare.”
Opposing Obamacare is ‘a grave moral failure’
The letter rejected not only Republicans’ tactics but also their objective. “To take such rash and destructive action [putting conditions on the budget and debt ceiling resolutions] in order to prevent further implementation of the Affordable Care Act – which addresses the needs of 50 million people without health insurance – is a grave moral failure,” the endorsers pronounced.
Besides the PCUSA, other organizations endorsing the letter and march included agencies of the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the National Council of Churches, the Unitarian Universalist Association and various Roman Catholic religious orders.
The PCUSA’s Nelson released a statement of his own for the occasion. “It is a distortion of our democracy and the foundations of our political process when a small faction of one political party can take the nation hostage in order to accomplish their policy ends,” the denominational lobbyist declared. “We are witnessing a selfishness of governance that was not intended by the founders of our nation.” He insisted that “[m]embers of Congress must give up this misguided foray into political brinksmanship.”
Nelson was dismayed that Republicans were challenging the ACA. “Why are we still debating this landmark legislation?” he asked. The PCUSA official opined that “[t]hose who have contempt for government have no business serving as a Member of Congress.”
Only Republicans targeted
The PCUSA News article described the Oct. 15 event as a “march on Congress.” But a press release from the religious left advocacy group Faith in Public Life was more specific about which legislators were targeted.
“Today,” the press release trumpeted, “over 70 prominent religious leaders joined with locked-out federal workers in a pilgrimage, marched on key House GOP offices—including Leadership—and urged an immediate end to the government shutdown. At each office, the group prayed for the Member [of Congress] to do what is right and vote to immediately end the shutdown with a clean and unconditional continuing resolution and to raise the debt ceiling without preconditions.”
The press release added that “faith leaders invited moderate Republicans to join them in challenging their colleagues who are putting political agendas ahead of the common good.” It blasted Republican conservatives as “[a]n extreme faction of Congress [that] is recklessly playing politics with the lives of countless Americans: seniors seeing ‘Meals on Wheels’ cut, pregnant women and infants losing vital nutrition support, workers locked out of their jobs as bills pile up, veterans facing benefit cuts, and communities put in peril by the suspension of crucial environmental protection efforts.”
There was no indication that the Capitol Hill “pilgrimage” stopped in any Democratic offices. Neither the press release nor the letter nor Nelson’s statement raised any concerns about the Democrats’ role in the standoff.
Conservatives ‘taking food away from pregnant women and babies’
The Oct. 15 march was coordinated with efforts by Faithful America, an online religious left lobby that presented to Congress a petition bearing over 32,000 endorsements. The petition excoriated conservative Christians who both opposed abortion and favored the House position on the budget/debt ceiling resolutions.
“There is nothing ‘pro-life’ or Christian about taking food away from pregnant women and babies,” the petition thundered. “It is hypocritical and shameful for those who tout their commitment to family values to show such callous indifference.”
As Nelson and the other “pilgrims” walked from one House Republican office to the next, conveying their political demands and praying that GOP representatives would yield to those demands, they sang familiar hymns. This video shows them belting out a chorus of “Amazing Grace.” Nelson is seen on the right, wearing a red bow tie, toward the start of the video.
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Here you have PCUSA officials, whose salaries are paid from collection plates across the country, actively supporting one American political party. This despite the fact that the 2008 Presbyterian Panel Survey showed that only 28% of PCUSA church members identify with that party; 42% with the other major party; and 30% “Other”.
Please tell me if there is a single political or social issue on which the leadership of the PCUSA is not in full agreement with the leftmost wing of the Democrat Party; I can’t think of one.
Am I saying that PCUSA officials should switch to supporting conservative politics, since there are more Republicans than Democrats among church members? Absolutely not. I’m saying the PCUSA should not be in the business of lobbying in Washington or state capitals or anywhere else, and should abolish all denominational paid positions related to political lobbying or activism. They can start with the Reverend Mr. Nelson’s job.
Sadly, though, most people in the pews have no idea that he, or his job, exists; that they are paying his salary; and that he took this little jaunt to Washington to help advance the cause of the Democrat Party.
Time to vote…………with your feet. Sadly I did so several years ago when I realized I was on a “runaway train”. Much much happier and content with the place I’m in today.
Actually this is not about supporting a political party. This is about encouraging elected leaders to do their job and run the country. The shutdown hurt the economy, hurt people and was a stunt. Note the adjectives in the article —left leaning, etc.
Thank you, Alan, for yet another example of the PCUSA heirarchy exposing its own moral bankruptcy. We have come to expect its frequent forays into political activism – always in behalf of the forces of Collectivism rather than Individualism. That is why they favor the Democrat agenda rather than the Republican agenda. That is why they favor the Group rather than the Person. Sadly, it is useless to remind them to ” render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s…….” – nor would they understand that no one group of the hundreds of mini-micro-Caesars in Washington today has a monopoly on truth. No, our PCUSA heirarchy continues its delusion that there is a legislative solution for every social evil. Even reminding them of the unintended consequences of legislation ( eg, the Volstead Act and Al Capone ) will not wake them up. Such will it be with ” Obamacare ” also. So we can expect PCUSA’s continued political activism – an activism designed to sabotage the very principles upon which the U.S.A was founded. On the contrary, the God who gave us Life – gave us Liberty.
Let us never forget that.
PCUSA ceased being an authentic Christian church and witness quite some time ago. Blessings to those thousands who have and continue to flee that citadel of apostasy. Sad it has come to this, but necessary to disassociate and reclaim orthodoxy and faithfulness in word and deed.
Glad to have marched with the Million Veterans March on the Memorials in DC, though, rather than this showy sham!!
Another sad reminder how far from scripture the PCUSA is. Proverbs 22 reminds us that the borrower is slave to the lender.
I hated to leave my home church (3rd generation) but I needed integrity–spiritually and intellectually.
The real grave moral failure is the Scriptural and catechetical dismissiveness that has become enshrined in the mainline. Guess it’s not politically correct to address that issue.
Democrat legislators quietly supported the shutdown (despite their votes) realizing that it would distract from the impact of the forthcoming disastrous launch of Obamacare. GOP miscalled this one — to their disadvantage. Obamacare alone is enough to bring down this administration. Rev. Nelson knows this.
The Million Veterans March was more like 300 confused folk
It’s obvious why he is in lockstep with the administration. The PCUSA has drifted so far from its Biblical roots it probably will never find its way back. The member loss has turned from a trickle into a literal hemorrhage.
This article was definitely right-leaning, not surprising, disguised as an objective news article. Note the judicious use of quotation marks throughout. Playing to the base, as they say.
Wouldn’t it be great to have a “Tea Party Presbyterian Church?”
I can honestly say, that regardless of which party I would identify with, this PCUSA leader made a mistake by using his position in the PCUSA for this cause. And, he has some nerve making a statement about “what the founders of this country would want” while he is openly identifying with a party which will soon succeed in eliminating any reference to God and His son from our government. Is this what those same founders wanted? Has the PCUSA adopted a position on this issue, and I missed it? Finally, the outspoken folks who accuse Republicans of “taking food away from pregnant women and babies” should be ashamed. Suppose this gross generalization were true, shouldn’t this be a role of the Christian church in the first place? We obviously have dropped the ball if the government is having to pick up the slack……so keep your mouth shut…you’re essentially advertising our shortcomings, and thus making a mockery of the body of Christ.