Ouch. You can now add the Methodists to the growing legion of those calling for the impeachment of George W. Bush. So reports
KWTX, out of Waco, Texas, tonight:
Methodist Leader Calls For President's Impeachment
(May 23, 2006)--The United Methodist Church's chief social-issues spokesman, the Rev. Jim Winkler, says Congress should impeach President Bush "to advance the kingdom of God."
Winkler proposed that during the annual "Ecumenical Advocacy Days," attended by delegates from his church and other denominations, most of them members of the National Council of Churches.
In his view, "there was nothing Christian" in President Bush's response to the 9/11 attacks.
The Methodist church's official Social Principles declare, "War is incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ," and reject war "as an instrument of national foreign policy."
The Methodists are America's third-largest religious body.
Now, I know, religious organizations are not supposed to get involved in politics, but it's refreshing to see the tide beginning to turn this way. It's about time that someone with religious authority called Dubya on his supposed adherence to "Christian values." I'd be much more supportive of Christians if they'd start acting like ... well, Christians. So bravo to the Methodists for standing up for the right thing.
But that's not all. Here's a snippet from May 20's Washington Post, page A1:
"The wind is changing. Folks -- not just leaders -- are fed up with what is being portrayed as Christian values," said the Rev. Tim Ahrens, senior minister of First Congregational Church of Columbus, Ohio, and a founder of We Believe Ohio, a statewide clergy group established to ensure that the religious right is "not the only one holding a megaphone" in the public square.
"As religious people we're offended by the idea that if you're not with the religious right, you're not moral, you're not religious," said Linda Gustitus, who attends Bethesda's River Road Unitarian Church and is a founder of the new Washington Region Religious Campaign Against Torture. "I mean there's a whole universe out there [with views] different from the religious right. . . . People closer to the middle of the political spectrum who are religious want their voices heard."
Well, let's hope those voices keep getting louder and louder. Today's Methodist salvo is a lovely start.
