Dear Friend,
1) The Presbyterian Church (USA) is recommending divestment from three companies profiting from the illegal occupation of Palestinian land.
Here is the official announcement. (It will be discussed and voted on at this year's General Assembly in Pittsburgh, PA).
2) There were six (6) responses to my "Discussion Starter" piece, which I'm attaching without comment, although I'd like to respond to several. It adds to the important discussion needs to take place. One thing I will say is that our Christian Palestinian friend in I/P is stressing the systemic cause of the conflict, whereas I was highlighting the "personal, and relational" aspect of the break down in human relations. Both aspects come into play in my view. (I'm also attaching the original "Discussion Starter" piece in case you missed it). JRK
Presbyterian Leadership Takes Historic Stand
LOUISVILLE, KY - February 17, 2012 - The General Assembly Mission Council (GAMC) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted to send a recommendation to the July meeting of the 220th General Assembly (national Presbyterian voting body) to divest its holdings from Caterpillar, Inc., Hewlett Packard, and Motorola Solutions. The original recommendation came from the denomination’s Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee (MRTI) at its meeting of September 2011. MRTI’s recommendation first went to the GAMC Subcommittee on Justice, who passed it on to the larger body by unanimous consent.
Brian Ellison, Chair of MRTI, made presentations to both the subcommittee and the larger body, covering the long and painstaking process of corporate engagement that led to this recommendation. A Presbyterian pastor from Kansas City, Ellison made it clear that MRTI’s attempts at engagement with the top executives of these companies over the years have borne no fruit and that according to the Presbyterian Church’s own investment guidelines, MRTI is left without any choice but to recommend divestment as the last step of the process. When asked why these companies are being singled out among all those that do business in Israel, Ellison said that these companies profit from non-peaceful pursuits by supporting illegal occupation, which is not in line with Presbyterian values or investment philosophy.
When a member of the subcommittee mentioned that she had received information by e-mail from a Presbyterian opponent of divestment suggesting that MRTI had not gone far enough in contacting company executives, Ellison disagreed and went on to say that MRTI and its ecumenical partners persistently contacted CEOs and top executives of the three companies over several years, and received no meaningful responses to their questions or concerns.
The Israel Palestine Mission Network of the PC(USA) [IPMN]commends the General Assembly Mission Council for this historic vote. Much like the decision by Presbyterians in 1983 to divest from companies profiting from Apartheid in South Africa, this is an action that will send a clear message to the world that our Church will do everything in our power to make sure it does not profit from violence or the systematic violation of Palestinian human rights. If history is our guide, then such action, when combined with those of other religious bodies and individuals of conscience, will help bring change and transformation to the land that holds deep meaning for all the people of the three Abrahamic faiths.
About IPMN: In joyful obedience to the call of Christ, and in solidarity with churches and our other partners in the Middle East, this network covenants to engage, consolidate, nourish, and channel the energy in the Presbyterian Church (USA) toward the goal of a just peace in Israel /Palestine by facilitating education, promoting partnerships, and coordinating advocacy.
Our network speaks TO the Church not FOR the Church.
Presbyterian News Service on PC(USA) website
Friday, February 17, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
A Discussion Starter on the Root of Conflict
This slight study on Gen. 16 is meant as a discussion starter for those seeking resolution of conflict. Reconcilation is the goal. Patience and persistence is the rule and way forward. Peace to all. JRK
THE ROOT AND RESOLUTION OF CONFLICT
A Bible Study based on Genesis 16:1-10, by (Rev) John R. Kleinheksel Sr.
Such a presumptuous title from such a slight study! And yet here are helpful insights so we can cope with conflict—whether in our biological family, with our neighbors, or among those in a cross-cultural situation (like Israel/Palestine). This short study is meant as a discussion starter!
I THE ROOT OF CONFLICT
Sarai, Abram’s wife, was childless. This was a sore spot, an underlying inadequacy in her eyes and the eyes of her society. Abram didn’t love her any less, but she felt undervalued just the same. Furthermore, her children-bearing years were coming to an end. She was starting to panic and was desperate to have a family.
Hagar was an Egyptian maidservant in the employ of Abram’s household, attending especially to Sarai. She was hired at some point during the ten years that Abram had been living in the land of Canaan.
“Sleep with my maid”, Sarai suggests to Abram. “Maybe I can get a family from her” (v. 2). (This sounds like the origin of the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, when Eve invites Adam to partake of the forbidden fruit).
Abram agrees to do it (v. 2). There is no evidence of emotional entanglement with Hagar, no evidence of any agonizing over the ethics of it. (It sounds like a bid for “Open Marriage”!) He slept with Hagar, a lower ranking member of the clan; yet never denying his love (wholehearted?) for Sarai, his wife. But oh, what a rat’s nest was stirred up!
When Hagar becomes pregnant, Sarai was sure she detected a superior attitude in the actions of her servant (v. 4). Hagar had a smirk on her face in Sarai’s presence. Hagar held her in contempt. Sarai: She treats me like dirt; I’m a nothing to her (v. 5, The Message).
So Sarai begins a carpet-bombing campaign, aimed at Hagar. “Choose between her and me”, she demands of Abram. Abram wisely refuses to choose between them, but does give Sara the freedom to deal with her maid as she chooses (v. 6). Sarai becomes so abusive that Hagar flees to the desert (vs. 6b, 7). Sarai has the power. Hagar has no power. Who oppresses whom? If Hagar wanted to push Sarai into the sea, Sarai wanted to banish Hagar to the desert. Who wins in this contest?
Here we have the root of conflict between people. There is not only class warfare; there is a power imbalance. We constantly play the “Blame Game” (like Adam and Eve), and refuse to understand the issue or resolve it. Our well being (security) as humans come from being loved (valued). This comes about from God in the primary sense, and through parents, spouses, children, neighbors, fellow citizens, and outsiders. We are extremely sensitive when “others” act in such a way that throws our “value” into question. (As Tom Friedman puts it in a New York Times editorial on Russia and the Arab Spring: (P) olitical eruptions . . . are driven . . . by the quest for dignity and justice. Humiliation is the single most underestimated force in politics (NY Times, January 31, 2012).
Sarai was certain that Hagar despised her. Hagar was NOT an equal. Hagar was inferior, lower on the scale of valued persons. When Hagar was “successful” as a woman and child-bearer, it stirred up spiteful jealousy and a desire for reprisal in Sarai, the superior person in the network.
Conflict continues to fester when two parties each feel profoundly disrespected as persons. Rebellion is engendered when, in our view, our dignity in the scheme of things is being trashed. Fortunately or unfortunately, our self-image (how we understand and accept ourselves) is influenced by how others perceive us, giving it more value than may be warranted.
Instead of being reassured by the constant affirmations of love from Abram, Sarai allows Hagar’s haughty view of her to take precedence. Feeling abused, she abuses in return. Felling like she is “nothing”, she treats Hagar as “nothing”.
This is the huge Abyss that forms between persons and peoples if allowed to fester unchecked, unchallenged, and unchanged. This is the seemingly insurmountable chasm that leads to a widening gulf refusing to be bridged (Israel/Palestine!). It also happens in families or communities or among nations.
II THE RESOLUTION OF CONFLICT
Except that there is help. There is a way forward. It is in the word given to Hagar in v. 9. First some background. Hagar has fled. She feels she is being kicked out of her home and place in the scheme of things. She finds herself near a spring of water “on the road to Shur”—v.7) [The reader wonders if this is might be a separate account of the “well of water” that miraculously appears to Hagar in 21:17-19].
“God” asks her a question: What are you doing here? She might have replied, Because I’m not being treated with any dignity/respect by my mistress. But she replies: I’m running away from my mistress (v. 8).
God responds: Go back to your mistress. Put up with her abuse. I’m going to give you a big family, children past counting (vs. 9, 10, The Message).
The way forward is to be present in the oppressive situation, quietly outlast the abuse and experience how you are chosen, loved, and favored by God (and others). Keep hope alive that you will take your place in the family, in the neighborhood, in the family of nations. Hagar is also chosen and loved. Chosenness goes to all people, not just one person, family or nation.
Each of us has to confront abuse and overcome it, knowing we are loved and that our role will be vindicated when the time comes. (This is as much a way forward for Sarai as it is for Hagar. When the love deficit is filled there is no room for envy or jealousy).
I can whine all I want. I can launch a counter-offensive. Or I can see adversity through the eyes of faith and work toward reconciliation. I am more than my despised self. I too am a child of God.
God always comes alongside of the oppressed and outcasts, and works to bring them into the family.
Break Out Questions:
• In what way have you been (or at least felt) devalued?
• What ways have you used to cope?
• What are the ways you (and others) will now try to cope?
• How might this apply to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians?
THE ROOT AND RESOLUTION OF CONFLICT
A Bible Study based on Genesis 16:1-10, by (Rev) John R. Kleinheksel Sr.
Such a presumptuous title from such a slight study! And yet here are helpful insights so we can cope with conflict—whether in our biological family, with our neighbors, or among those in a cross-cultural situation (like Israel/Palestine). This short study is meant as a discussion starter!
I THE ROOT OF CONFLICT
Sarai, Abram’s wife, was childless. This was a sore spot, an underlying inadequacy in her eyes and the eyes of her society. Abram didn’t love her any less, but she felt undervalued just the same. Furthermore, her children-bearing years were coming to an end. She was starting to panic and was desperate to have a family.
Hagar was an Egyptian maidservant in the employ of Abram’s household, attending especially to Sarai. She was hired at some point during the ten years that Abram had been living in the land of Canaan.
“Sleep with my maid”, Sarai suggests to Abram. “Maybe I can get a family from her” (v. 2). (This sounds like the origin of the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, when Eve invites Adam to partake of the forbidden fruit).
Abram agrees to do it (v. 2). There is no evidence of emotional entanglement with Hagar, no evidence of any agonizing over the ethics of it. (It sounds like a bid for “Open Marriage”!) He slept with Hagar, a lower ranking member of the clan; yet never denying his love (wholehearted?) for Sarai, his wife. But oh, what a rat’s nest was stirred up!
When Hagar becomes pregnant, Sarai was sure she detected a superior attitude in the actions of her servant (v. 4). Hagar had a smirk on her face in Sarai’s presence. Hagar held her in contempt. Sarai: She treats me like dirt; I’m a nothing to her (v. 5, The Message).
So Sarai begins a carpet-bombing campaign, aimed at Hagar. “Choose between her and me”, she demands of Abram. Abram wisely refuses to choose between them, but does give Sara the freedom to deal with her maid as she chooses (v. 6). Sarai becomes so abusive that Hagar flees to the desert (vs. 6b, 7). Sarai has the power. Hagar has no power. Who oppresses whom? If Hagar wanted to push Sarai into the sea, Sarai wanted to banish Hagar to the desert. Who wins in this contest?
Here we have the root of conflict between people. There is not only class warfare; there is a power imbalance. We constantly play the “Blame Game” (like Adam and Eve), and refuse to understand the issue or resolve it. Our well being (security) as humans come from being loved (valued). This comes about from God in the primary sense, and through parents, spouses, children, neighbors, fellow citizens, and outsiders. We are extremely sensitive when “others” act in such a way that throws our “value” into question. (As Tom Friedman puts it in a New York Times editorial on Russia and the Arab Spring: (P) olitical eruptions . . . are driven . . . by the quest for dignity and justice. Humiliation is the single most underestimated force in politics (NY Times, January 31, 2012).
Sarai was certain that Hagar despised her. Hagar was NOT an equal. Hagar was inferior, lower on the scale of valued persons. When Hagar was “successful” as a woman and child-bearer, it stirred up spiteful jealousy and a desire for reprisal in Sarai, the superior person in the network.
Conflict continues to fester when two parties each feel profoundly disrespected as persons. Rebellion is engendered when, in our view, our dignity in the scheme of things is being trashed. Fortunately or unfortunately, our self-image (how we understand and accept ourselves) is influenced by how others perceive us, giving it more value than may be warranted.
Instead of being reassured by the constant affirmations of love from Abram, Sarai allows Hagar’s haughty view of her to take precedence. Feeling abused, she abuses in return. Felling like she is “nothing”, she treats Hagar as “nothing”.
This is the huge Abyss that forms between persons and peoples if allowed to fester unchecked, unchallenged, and unchanged. This is the seemingly insurmountable chasm that leads to a widening gulf refusing to be bridged (Israel/Palestine!). It also happens in families or communities or among nations.
II THE RESOLUTION OF CONFLICT
Except that there is help. There is a way forward. It is in the word given to Hagar in v. 9. First some background. Hagar has fled. She feels she is being kicked out of her home and place in the scheme of things. She finds herself near a spring of water “on the road to Shur”—v.7) [The reader wonders if this is might be a separate account of the “well of water” that miraculously appears to Hagar in 21:17-19].
“God” asks her a question: What are you doing here? She might have replied, Because I’m not being treated with any dignity/respect by my mistress. But she replies: I’m running away from my mistress (v. 8).
God responds: Go back to your mistress. Put up with her abuse. I’m going to give you a big family, children past counting (vs. 9, 10, The Message).
The way forward is to be present in the oppressive situation, quietly outlast the abuse and experience how you are chosen, loved, and favored by God (and others). Keep hope alive that you will take your place in the family, in the neighborhood, in the family of nations. Hagar is also chosen and loved. Chosenness goes to all people, not just one person, family or nation.
Each of us has to confront abuse and overcome it, knowing we are loved and that our role will be vindicated when the time comes. (This is as much a way forward for Sarai as it is for Hagar. When the love deficit is filled there is no room for envy or jealousy).
I can whine all I want. I can launch a counter-offensive. Or I can see adversity through the eyes of faith and work toward reconciliation. I am more than my despised self. I too am a child of God.
God always comes alongside of the oppressed and outcasts, and works to bring them into the family.
Break Out Questions:
• In what way have you been (or at least felt) devalued?
• What ways have you used to cope?
• What are the ways you (and others) will now try to cope?
• How might this apply to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)