Proposed Bush Library Divides U.S. Methodists
RNS’ G. Jeffrey MacDonald reports on the division among United Methodists on the proposed location of a George W. Bush presidential library and policy institute at Southern Methodist University, in this week’s full-text article, linked above.
Quote:
“Some of us don’t believe that starting a pre-emptive war against anybody, especially a country that had no role in 9/11, is on our list of religious values,” said William McElvaney, an emeritus professor of preaching and worship at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology. “Relaxation of the Geneva Conventions (codes for treatment of war prisoners) and torture … are not on our list of Christian virtues.”
Supporters of the proposed Bush library and policy center don’t want to sacrifice what they regard as a paramount Methodist virtue: tolerance for different ways of living out the faith.
