The Gatestone Institute (Chaired by former United States UN Ambassador John Bolton) takes note of churches seeking to influence Israeli policies regarding occupied territories. They’re free to act as they wish, and there is a legitimate argument to be had about the Israeli settlements and violence overall.
On the other hand, I think their membership should know what’s going on:
In breaking news yesterday, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America approved a resolution calling on the U.S. government to end all aid to Israel if Israel does not stop building settlements and “enable an independent Palestinian state.”
Several international Christian policy conferences this summer have produced a mixed bag of both blessings and curses — all aimed at Israel. The United Methodists, The Southern Baptists, The Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Unitarian Universalists are worth noting here.
United Methodists
From the quadrennial United Methodist General Conference (UMGC), the good news is that the four major divestment and boycott proposals were defeated in committee before ever reaching a floor vote.
Southern Baptists
In an even more comprehensive and positive move, the Southern Baptist Convention in its June gathering passed an anti-divestment resolution in support of Israel. The resolution declared “that the BDS movement seeks to isolate only the nation of Israel economically and socially.”
I edited the sections above. The whole article is at the link. Worth a read.
