NCC declares 10 ‘principles’ that target Bush’s re-election
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, July 16, 2004
The National Council of Churches, an ecumenical organization that gets a healthy chunk of its funding from the Presbyterian Church (USA), has issued what it calls “Christian Principles in an Election Year.”
Without citing a single verse of Scripture and only once mentioning Christ, the NCC’s 10 “principles” clearly oppose the re-election of President George W. Bush. The principles were published without using the full name of the organization – National Council of Churches in Christ.
“[R]eligious liberty and the integrity of our democracy will be protected as candidates refrain from using faith-based organizations and institutions for partisan gain,” the NCC says in obvious disdain for Bush’s program to use qualified religious groups to supplement government’s services to needy people.
Even more pointedly, the “Christian Principles” declare that “war is contrary to the will of God” and that the “well-being of our global neighbors” depends on a “foreign policy based on cooperation and global justice.”
The statement ignores the possibility – long held by Christians – that a just war itself may be necessary to secure global justice.
In one case, however, the NCC makes contradictory statements. After declaring that war is contrary to the will of God, it adds, without explanation, that the “use of violent force may, at times, be a necessity.” In previous statements, the NCC has expressed more sympathy for terrorists because of their “oppression” that it has for Israel and the coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The NCC’s principles oppose the use of prisons or fines to punish crime. “We look for political leaders who seek a restorative, not retributive, approach to the criminal justice system and the individuals within it,” the NCC says.
Other “principles” deal with the “hopelessness” of “large segments of our inner-city and rural populations;” “economic justice;” “racial justice and equal opportunity;” “environmental justice;” “fair immigration policies;” “accessible health care for all;” “abundant funding for children’s services.”