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RENEW Women’s NetworkDo we honestly believe...
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Culture in View
The Omen
Immediately after the 2006 United Methodist Women's Assembly, an announcement was made that the CEO of the Women's Division, Dr. Jan Love, had stepped down to assume the position of Dean of Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.
Dr. Love brought a unique style of leadership to the Women's Division, and there is no doubt her educational background and experience with the World Council of Churches will influence the leadership she brings to Candler. We wish her well.
From the time Dr. Love took the position as head of the Women's Division in August 2004, she indicated she was pleased to have the opportunity to give back to the Women's Division for all they had given to her over the years. She began involvement with the Women's Division and the Board of Global Ministries as a teenager, leading to a longtime association with the World Council of Churches, where she served on the central committee from 1975 to 1998. Dr. Love's worldview and theological perspectives were shaped by these associations and reflected in her final message to the UMW Assembly in Anaheim, California, on Sunday, May 7, 2006.
Dr. Love's Assembly address is worth focusing upon because the content mirrors the perspectives of the Women's Division. In so doing, I want to ask if we honestly hold these assumptions.
Do we honestly believe.
. the War on Terrorism, and the invasion of Iraq is a "dirty war" like Vietnam? Can we honestly believe that we should forget the torture chambers, the beheadings, the plight of a country brutalized by its cruel dictator, Saddam Hussein? Is war ever justified?
. the sacrifice of American and Iraqi lives, and the lives of our allies such as Great Britain, have "not yet really made us more secure or given us a sense of peace and calm about the future?" What of our economic recovery? What of the absence of a similar attack to 9/11? Is radical terrorism restrained by the action of the U.S. and its allies?
. "hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died from the war's direct violence as well as the breakdown of basic services like clean water and access to health care?" What of the reports of the dearth of healthcare under the Hussein regime? What of the mutilated bodies, the torture chambers, and mass executions?
. "our government has been doing such horrible things.soldiers ordered to torture prisoners?" Do we honestly believe that the incidents at Abu Gharaib Prison and Guantanamo Bay were standard operating procedure, or, as investigation has shown, isolated incidents perpetrated by cruel individuals and misguided leadership? Is unbridled torture U.S. policy?
. "those who steal land from others on the basis of some distorted reading of sacred tests have a religious vision?" Do Christians and Jews have a "distorted reading of sacred texts" that falsely gives Israel the right to exist? Other speakers criticized the "wall of separation" between Israel and Palestine. Do the Israelis have the right to this means of protection when statistics clearly show the building of the wall has reduced fatal suicide bombings by over 70 percent?
. the Women's Division has the answer, or should have the answer, to the complex immigration issue?
. "too many in this country, one of the wealthiest on earth, can't get a decent public education?" More funds have been poured into public education under the current administration than at any time in the past. Will the Women's Division provide answers to the public education issue with its closed public education meeting at Scarritt-Bennett and two years of mission studies on the topic?
. it is a "death-dealing destruction done in the name of religion" to "deny women access to basic reproductive health care [abortion]?" Is it not death-dealing to the pre-born to destroy their lives through abortion?
. "God is coming and she is mad!"? Dr. Love's reference to God in the feminine was not the only one at the Assembly. Has God intentionally revealed himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, encompassing all human characteristics? Should we take offense, or seek to know his divine person as disclosed to us?
. that, despite the many "scary" things we face upon this earth, we shall overcome it all by our own actions as we "tell our stories" and show kindness and justice?
If we honestly believe these things, then let us follow the leadership of the Women's Division. If not, perhaps we should look for another leader.
Renew's assessments of the 2006 UMW Assembly are posted on our website and are available upon request.
The Renew Network is the women's program arm of Good News. For post-UMW Assembly Reports and additional information, visit us at: renewnetwork.org; or, write us or call us at: renew1@hemc.net; P.O. Box 889, Cornelia, GA 30531; 706-778-4812.
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