Methodists Bring Church Charges Against Jeff Sessions For Border Policy

Manufacturing Consent - The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Noam Chomsky

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Wednesday, 20 June 2018

quote [ More than 600 clergy and lay members of the United Methodist Church have ]

Sorry about the source: Huffpo trash, but I thought a feel good article about religion might be apropos. No thumb because I don't want his face on my computer even as thumbs.

Reveal

Methodists Bring Church Charges Against Jeff Sessions For Border Policy
More than 600 clergy and lay members of the United Methodist Church have
More than 600 clergy and lay members of the United Methodist Church have signed a letter bringing church charges against fellow member Attorney General Jeff Sessions for the zero tolerance immigration policy that has resulted in the separation of undocumented children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The formal accusation, issued on Monday, charges Sessions with numerous violations of the denomination’s Book of Discipline, including child abuse, immorality, racial discrimination and, for his citation of Romans 13 to defend the policy, the dissemination of doctrines contrary to the standards of the UMC.

Those who signed the complaint letter claim that Sessions’ “tremendous social/political power,” his role as a Sunday school teacher and the “severe and ongoing” effects of his actions compel them to call for accountability.

“As members of the United Methodist Church, we deeply hope for a reconciling process that will help this long-time member of our connection step back from his harmful actions and work to repair the damage he is currently causing to immigrants, particularly children and families,” the letter states.

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores declined to comment directly on the church charges against Sessions. She said, “The AG’s comments on Scripture were not to justify the policy but in response to other criticism.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions addresses cadets at the Lackawanna College Police Academy in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on June 15. Hundreds of his fellow United Methodist Church members are bringing church charges against him for separating immigrant families. (Pacific Press / Getty Images)
Attorney General Jeff Sessions addresses cadets at the Lackawanna College Police Academy in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on June 15. Hundreds of his fellow United Methodist Church members are bringing church charges against him for separating immigrant families. (Pacific Press / Getty Images)
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In May, Sessions announced that the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security are aiming to prosecute 100 percent of cases of illegal border crossings, regardless of whether those involved are fleeing persecution or traveling with children. The U.S. government separated nearly 2,000 children from their parents in April and May as a result of this policy, placing the minors in shelters or with extended family members while their parents are prosecuted.

Sessions has drawn widespread condemnation after using a chapter from the Bible to respond to religious critics of the policy.

“Concerns raised by our church friends about separating families” are “not fair or logical,” he said in a speech in Fort Wayne, Indiana. “I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order.”

“I have given the idea of immigration much thought and have considered the arguments of our church leaders,” Sessions continued. “I do not believe Scripture or church history or reason condemns a secular nation-state for having reasonable immigration laws. If we have them, then they should be enforced.”

Tents used to detain immigrant children, many of whom have been separated from their parents, in Tornillo, Texas, June 18. The U.S. government separated nearly 2,000 children from their parents in April and May after they crossed the border without authorization. (Mike Blake / Reuters)
Tents used to detain immigrant children, many of whom have been separated from their parents, in Tornillo, Texas, June 18. The U.S. government separated nearly 2,000 children from their parents in April and May after they crossed the border without authorization. (Mike Blake / Reuters)
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The United Methodist Church is the third-largest religious denomination in the U.S., with over 7 million lay members. Sessions is a member of a Methodist church in Mobile, Alabama, and attends services at another Methodist church in Virginia. HuffPost has reached out to the pastors of both congregations for comment but has not heard back.

According to United Methodist News, the denomination’s official news site, it’s rare for Methodists to bring formal charges against a layperson. Complaints that come up are typically resolved at the local level, after a member’s pastor and district superintendent offer counseling. If the complaint isn’t resolved, it’s possible for charges to result in a church trial and even expulsion. This has reportedly never happened in the church’s history.

The Rev. David Wright, a UMC pastor and chaplain at the University of Puget Sound in Washington state, was the primary organizer of the letter against Sessions. Wright told United Methodist News that he doesn’t want Sessions to be expelled from the denomination but is hoping the charges result in Sessions’ being called in for pastoral counseling.

“I hope his pastor can have a good conversation with him and come to a good resolution that helps him reclaim his values that many of us feel he’s violated as a Methodist,” Wright said.

Children at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention facility in Rio Grande City, Texas, on June 17. Defending the administration’s harsh immigration enforcement policies, Sessions cited a verse from the Bible. (Customs and Border Protection / Reuters)
Children at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention facility in Rio Grande City, Texas, on June 17. Defending the administration’s harsh immigration enforcement policies, Sessions cited a verse from the Bible. (Customs and Border Protection / Reuters)
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Many Christian leaders have rejected Sessions’ interpretation of Romans 13 and spoke out against the zero tolerance policy, including the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church.

“Our congregations and agencies serve many migrant families that have recently arrived in the United States. Leaving their communities is often the only option they have to provide safety for their children and protect them from harm,” the council said in a June 7 statement. “Tearing children away from parents who have made a dangerous journey to provide a safe and sufficient life for them is unnecessarily cruel and detrimental to the well-being of parents and children.”

Sessions’ Mobile church, Ashland Place, is part of the UMC’s Alabama–West Florida Conference, which has also been critical of the policy. A spokeswoman for the conference declined to comment to HuffPost about the charges brought against Sessions, saying that details about any complaint are confidential.

In a statement released Monday, the conference’s Bishop David Graves decried separating children from their parents as “unjust acts.”

“I implore congress and the current administration to do all in their power to reunite these families,” he said.

[SFW] [religion & spirituality]	[+4 Good]
[by lilmookieesquire@6:20amGMT]

Comments

steele said @ 6:03pm GMT on 20th Jun [Score:3 Good]

Portland DSA is occupying their local ICE office and have effectively shut it down.

Bruceski said^[1] @ 6:57pm GMT on 20th Jun [Score:1 WTF]

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1ZkKzNPmLqRKv
Guy tries to move the protesters with an SUV.

Also apparently someone else in a vehicle with veteran plates was driving around waving a gun at folks and pulling near-misses.

knumbknutz said^[2] @ 5:54pm GMT on 20th Jun [Score:1 Informative]

Well, looks like trump is reversing course on the draconian third reich style tactics on the border.

Aaaaand it took him exactly 10 seconds before he gaslighted the hell out of having to do this. Doing it through executive order when an E.O. was not even needed in this case, all while pointing fingers everywhere but where the fault lied.

Bottom line was - he was abusing a policy not meant to corral immigrant children in cages, and all that needed to be done originally, was to administer the policy humanely in the first place.

I swear, I have never seen anyone fuck-up un-fucking something before to this magnitude.

slaytanik said @ 3:54am GMT on 21st Jun

He did this to make himself look good. He always claimed it was a Democrat law that forced families apart, even though it was his policy. Now it looks like he's stepped in to save the children by signing an unnecessary executive order.

His fans will believe it and if the media doesn't call him out then he'll get away with it too.

lilmookieesquire said @ 4:30am GMT on 21st Jun [Score:2 Insightful]

*when the media

slaytanik said @ 5:37pm GMT on 21st Jun [Score:1 Sad]

Why'd you have to kick a man in the nuts like that moox

Abdul Alhazred said @ 6:06pm GMT on 20th Jun

*singing*

I have illegal immigrants and they need jail now.

Call JB Sessions! 877-JAIL-NOW!

(Special rates apply for children under 18.)

Have we Made America Great Again yet?

captainstubing said @ 4:00am GMT on 21st Jun

Maybe some USA SE-ers can help me out with this. I have made the mistake of reading the comments on a number of U.S.-based news services on stories regarding the whole baby-caging thing.

One thing that jumped out at me was the number of times I saw comments about it being a catholic conspiracy. Now I know that nutters are amplified online, but is the whole protestant/ catholic thing still a thing in the U.S.?

I'm all for deep-seated sectarian antipathy in religious movements, but I'm surprised to see this seemingly still a feature of public discourse in the U.S.

LurkerAtTheGate said @ 4:22am GMT on 21st Jun

Yea, the protestant/catholic thing is still a thing here. I mean, you ask most of 'em and they wouldn't be able to tell you what 'protestant' means. There are parts of the country that have some chill, but in most of the places that the christians lean fundie protestant they tend to fuckin hate Catholics. And Lutherans. And Episcopalians. Southern Baptists, Church of God, etc teach that Catholics and Catholic-lite Protestants are Satanists/Pagans/Athiests (I don't think they actually know the difference in any of the above). Like Piranhas - they'll gang up to rip any Outsider-faith to shreds...and they spend the rest of the time eyeing each other, looking for an opportunity to rip off a fin.

zarathustra said @ 5:38am GMT on 21st Jun [Score:2]

A few years ago I went to a bible study at a local baptist church. They had recently opened a new gym with weights and a track open to the public after you signed up but of course sign up was after a bible class. The first thing the guy leading the class did was, of course, beg for money for a mission. The mission was to one of the central American countries where he said t he people "had never heard of Jesus. They are all Catholics." I shit you not.

Then of course he gave a quick class in an old testament story he didn't understand.

captainstubing said @ 7:29am GMT on 21st Jun

Amazing.

HoZay said @ 5:02am GMT on 21st Jun

They team up on the pro-life, forced-abortion, anti-birth control stuff, are opposed on some social-justice related stuff.

1	ScoobySnacks
2	HoZay
3	Paracetamol
4	lilmookieesquire
5	Ankylosaur