[Dialogue] Fwd: AN APPEAL TO SMU PETITION SIGNERS April 24, 2008

Thu Apr 24 21:45:10 EDT 2008

As one of the signers and knowing that there are SMU grads among us, I  
forward this petition to you and hope, if you elect, you will become  
involved as well.

George Holcombe
14900 Yellowleaf Tr.
Austin, TX 78728
Home: 512/252-2756
Mobile 512/294-5952
geowanda at earthlink.net

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Andrew Weaver" <aJWEAVER711 at AOL.COM>
> Date: April 24, 2008 7:32:44 PM CDT
> To: "George Holcombe" <geowanda at earthlink.net>
> Subject: AN APPEAL TO SMU PETITION SIGNERS  April 24, 2008
> Reply-To: listmanager at vitalvisuals.com
>
> I am Andrew J. Weaver, who organized the petition at www.protectSMU.org 
> . I am an ordained United Methodist minister and research  
> psychologist living in New York City. There are over 11,700 petition  
> signers from every state, including 29 U.S. Bishops. The petition  
> also has worldwide support from Methodist leaders in Britain,  
> Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and Sri Lanka.
>
> President Gerald Turner of SMU Sends Out Letter
>
> On April 11, three days after Gerald Turner sent a letter to all the  
> delegates to the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist  
> Church (UMC) extolling the supposed financial advantages and other  
> virtues of the Bush library and partisan think-tank, Bush announced  
> to the media that he has been deeply involved from the beginning in  
> the details of the use of torture that he authorized.
>
> ABC News reported: “President Bush says he knew his top national  
> security advisers discussed and approved specific details about how  
> high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the Central  
> Intelligence Agency.” According to White House sources, the  
> discussions about torture techniques were so detailed that some of  
> the “interrogation sessions were almost choreographed” (1-2).
>
> A month earlier, on March 8, Bush vetoed legislation banning  
> waterboarding and other methods of torture used by government  
> employees. The legislation would have limited CIA agents to 19 less- 
> aggressive tactics outlined in the U.S. Army field manual. The  
> president stated that the government “needs to use tougher methods  
> than the U.S. military to wrest information from terrorism  
> suspects” (3). It has been highly documented that at least 19  
> prisoners have been tortured to death by the U.S. military (4).
>
> Waterboarding has a long and sickening history. It was used as a  
> means of torture and coerced baptism during the Protestant  
> Reformation and Spanish Inquisition to convert Jews, Mennonites,  
> witches, and other suspected heretics. It consists of immobilizing  
> an individual on his or her back with the head inclined downward,  
> and pouring water over the face to force the inhalation of water  
> into the lungs. As the victim gags and chokes, the terror of  
> imminent death is pervasive.
>
> Torture is a crime against humanity and a violation of every human  
> rights treaty in existence. It represents a betrayal of the deepest  
> values of the UMC that founded and built SMU. In the supposedly  
> “less enlightened” 18th century, John Wesley explicitly preached  
> against the torture of prisoners of war:
>
> War itself is justifiable only on principles of self-preservation:  
> Therefore it gives us no right over prisoners, but to hinder their  
> hurting us by confining them. Much less can it give a right to  
> torture, or kill, or even to enslave an enemy when the war is over  
> (5).
>
> Bush, who claims to be a “proud Methodist,” shows no sign of  
> contrition or regret or remorse or repentance for his un=Christian  
> behavior. To the contrary, he continues to try to justify himself  
> and protect those in our government who have used and continue to  
> use torture. Lutheran Dietrich Bonhoffer in Nazi Germany rightly  
> called the cowardliness of the Christians in that terrible time to  
> make evil-doers accountable for their wicked deeds “cheap grace”.  
> Building a monument to this torturer-in-chief on a UMC campus to  
> “celebrate this great president, celebrate his accomplishments” (6)  
> is a defilement of our church that will permanently damage our  
> credibility to proclaim the Christian faith.
>
> (1) http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/LawPolitics/Story?id=4635175&page=1
>
> (2) http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041908Y.shtml
>
> (3) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/08/AR2008030800304.html
>
> (4) Oath Betrayed: Military Medicine and the War on Terror by Steven  
> H. Miles
>
> (5) http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/slavery
>
> (6) Statement by Don Evans, the Chair and a chief fundraiser for the  
> George W. Bush foundation on Feb. 22, 2008
>
> The Legal Case is in Place
>
> Our legal team tells us that we must go to court to protect the  
> property rights and voting rights of the 290 Jurisdictional  
> delegates who are the elected representatives of the property  
> owners, the 1.83 million UMC members of the South Central  
> Jurisdiction (SCJ). To do so we need at least one delegate willing  
> to step forward to be the plaintiff in the case. So far we have not  
> found such a delegate. Many fear the consequences to their future  
> ministry if they challenge their bishop. If you know a delegate in  
> the SCJ who might be a part of our case please ask her or him to  
> contact me at ajweaver711 at aol.com.
>
> The lawyers, including a former head of the Texas Bar Association,  
> who have given us free counsel and legal research for several  
> months, are telling us we have a solid legal case which we have a  
> very good chance to win. Through your wonderful generosity we have  
> the funds to start the legal process. You have my deep appreciation  
> for your faithfulness. Unfortunately, without a delegate we can not  
> go forward. Can you help us locate one?
>
> Finally, continue to encourage your friends and colleagues to sign  
> the petition. Each person is important. We need to tell officials of  
> the UMC at every level that we find an association with George W.  
> Bush unacceptable.
>
> With Best Regards,
> Rev. Andrew J. Weaver, Ph.D.
>
> Links to more Information on the SMU Bush Project:
>
> http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/16/bush-library-design/
>
> http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/25/smu-profs-bush-library-will-be-a-censored-library-and-will-cheer-lead-for-the-president/
>
> http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/27/bush-library/
>
> http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/26/rove-bush-library/
>
> http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-smufaculty_26met.ART.State.Edition1.466b9d0.html
>
> http://insidehighered.com/news/2008/02/25/smu
>
> http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories/DN-bushhistory_16met.ART.State.Edition2.460fd24.html
>
> http://sfist.com/2008/03/31/presidential_me_1.php
>
> http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/19/hunt-border-fence/
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/15/AR2008021503303.html?nav=hcmodule
>
> http://www.texasobserver.org/index.php
>
> http://media.www.smudailycampus.com/media/storage/paper949/news/2007/01/26/Opinion/Speak.Out.Against.The.Institute-2679575.shtml?sourcedomain=www.smudailycampus.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com
>
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