By Mark Tooley, Juicy Ecumenism, the blog site of the Institute on Religion and Democracy
Two liberal church groups responded immediately to the Ferguson grand jury verdict. Here’s the National Council of Churches:
Washington, DC: The National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA expresses its deep disappointment with the decision of the grand jury, sitting in Clayton, Missouri, not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the murder of Michael Brown.
An indictment would not have been a conviction nor a judgement of Officer Wilson’s guilt; rather, it would have permitted him to be tried before a jury of his peers where his innocence or guilt would have been appropriately decided. Without an indictment it now seems unlikely that justice will be done.
Nevertheless, we reiterate our call in this time of serious tension for the city of Ferguson and its citizens, law enforcement officials, justice-seekers, and others to respond in a nonviolent manner. We join with Michael Brown’s father’s plea that protests not become violent.
All hope is not lost. We will not forget Michael Brown nor cease to advocate for justice to be carried out in the matter of his death. …
And here’s the Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA):
Today the community justice system of Ferguson, Missouri, told the parents of Michael Brown that his killing was justified. We grieve with the family and community about the decision, and encourage support for their continued quest for justice.
This decision calls the whole church to reflect seriously about the communities and the racial climate we have created in this country. We need a society where everyone is treated with dignity and valued, where there is no fear of walking down the street. We and the places where we live have fallen short of that.
We call the church to pray that God will give us the courage and strength to have honest conversations about race where we live, work, and worship. We pray for safe spaces in Ferguson and in all communities for people to voice their views. We hope for lessons learned, lives changed, and inequitable systems across the United States dismantled in order to bring about the kind of world God has called us to co-create.
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There are no winners here, but Michael Brown was making bad decisions, starting with robbery, resisting arrest, assualt and batterty, to lay the blame at the officer is unjust and unfair, and we don’t need louisville making pronouncements that DO NOT represent the feelings of fellow members of the PCUSA.
This is a sad time for America, but these statements only make the people in louisville and DC feel better, it does nothing to change the climate and culture of Ferguson.
Will there be an other word from PCUSA? It is appalling that one person apparently now speaks with one voice for the denomination. And a truly sad divisive voice it is.
The Stated Clerk of the PCUSA has one main job, bean counter, in our case it’s to count the people going out, and the money coming in, not pronouncements about Israel, Ferguson or whatever.
** It is appalling that one person apparently now speaks with one voice for the denomination. And a truly sad divisive voice it is.**
Isn’t liberalism great where one can proclaim himself/herself king, and we have already examplse of this thanks to those in government, local, state and federal.
Yet, we are to pray for those in authority, the Holy Bible response.
Louisville needs people who are saved, 2 Peter 3:9; Holy Spirit led, Ephesians 5:17-18; Sanctified 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Submissive, 1 Peter 2:13-15; Thankful, 1Thessalonians 5:18. There are those even in Louisville that evidence these character traits, and prayer is needed for the Stated Clerk of the
pcusa.
One thing in common of all of the political and so-called religious left, they are one in the same, is the total dehumaniztion of the police officer, an by extension all in public safety and first responders. That those who by job and vocation wear a badge or carry a gun are by definition less than human, sub-humans, who lack either moral or ethical content or ability to think or defend themselves. Hence urban felons are free to steal, rape, and kill, the vast majority being people of their own race and neighborhood, because the bad and evil police made then so, or they get a free pass to loot and burn and have no responsibility for their actions.
A certain failed Austrian painter was able to convince the masses of his time that the Jews also lacked such characteristics that defined them as human and members of society and also, that the German situation and problems were directly related to the Jews. Cops in 2014 are the new Jews of Berlin in 1933 for many of the ideological left. Godless and pagan. Same old PCUSA. Witness Detroit and Israel BDS and Ferguson and Cops, liberals hates Jews and they hate cops, any care to defend the church?
In no way did the decision of the Grand Jury mean that lives are expendable. They never are. Lethal force on the part of the police is a last resort. At best, the Stated Clerk is encouraging a mindset of mistrust toward the police and our justice system. Beyond this, his words do little to discourage the rioting now taking place in response to the Grand Jury’s decision.
i would like to add something that i have not heard come up – that at an earlier point in time, a police officer in FLorissant (near Ferguson) was shot and killed with her own gun while trying to subdue a robbery suspect. i would expect that to be on the mind of any policeman in that area in a similar situation.
Was anyone else touched by the pic of the black boy & white cop embracing?? For me, that was the most hopeful sign of the past week. Also, there were armed black men protecting businesses owned by white people. There were also many prayer services that were not covered by the media.
**he Stated Clerk of the PCUSA has one main job, bean counter, in our case it’s to count the people going out, and the money coming in, not pronouncements about Israel, Ferguson or whatever.**
Amen. Blind leaders of the blind. The Pcusa.