PCUSA manual describes politically-correct Christians
The Layman Online, October 16, 2002
How does one become a politically correct Presbyterian?
An election manual titled “Christian & Citizen,” which was produced by a number of advocacy groups in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and edited by the denomination’s Washington lobby, spells out what you should believe and, if you read between the lines, how you should vote.
The 60-page manual is available on the Web site of the Washington Office of the PCUSA.
You cannot, for instance, oppose abortion. In fact, “No law or administrative decision should provide for a complete ban on abortion … or (1) limit access to abortions; (2) limit information and counseling concerning abortions; (3) limit or prohibit public funding for necessary abortions for the socially and economically disadvantaged.” (The manual doesn’t include the latest pronouncement of the General Assembly, which opposes any ban on late-term abortions after the fetus is viable.)
Furthermore:
- Tell President George W. Bush to reverse his order to ban U.S. assistance to international family planning agencies that use non-U.S. funds for abortion information or services.
- Get rid of your pistols and call for registration of all your pistols, rifles and shotguns.
- Even if privately built and privately run prisons save money, let others know that they are morally wrong and “an abhorrent way of making profit by punishing prisoners.”
- Declare that capital punishment is unacceptable — no matter how egregious the offense, Osama Bin Laden included.
- Call for “enhanced penalties for violent crimes motivated by the actual or perceived race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or disability of the victim.” Hence, people who commit hate crimes for none of the above reasons deserve lighter sentences.
- Say no to President Bush’s “faith-based initiatives” — OK, maybe let a church get one started, but turn it over quickly to a government agency because “government has the primary responsibility for caring for the poor.”
- Raise the minimum wage so that it’s a “living wage.”
- Cut military spending to reduce the deficit.
- Roll back much of welfare reform.
- Raise the banner for the Kyoto Protocol, which the U.S. Senate disapproved 95-0 after concluding that the United States would bear the lion’s share of the costs of scaling down warming.
- Ensure that same-sex couples are granted all the rights of married (man-woman) couples.
- Lift the embargoes on Iraq and Cuba.
“Citizen & Christian” credits the following:
- Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy
- Office of the Stated Clerk
- Presbyterian Hunger Program
- Presbyterian Peacemaking Program
- Presbyterian Washington Office
- Racial Justice Policy Development Office
- Social Justice Ministries
- Women’s Advocacy Office