LISTSERV mailing list manager LISTSERV 16.0

Help for ELCANEWS Archives


ELCANEWS Archives

ELCANEWS Archives


ELCANEWS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG


View:

Message:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Topic:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Author:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

Font:

Proportional Font

LISTSERV Archives

LISTSERV Archives

ELCANEWS Home

ELCANEWS Home

ELCANEWS  November 2006

ELCANEWS November 2006

Subject:

ELCA Conference Explores Christian Responses to Walls, Barriers

From:

[log in to unmask]

Reply-To:

[log in to unmask]

Date:

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 10:51:42 -0600

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (157 lines)

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 21, 2006  

ELCA Conference Explores Christian Responses to Walls, Barriers
06-185-BMC*

     WITTENBERG, Germany (ELCA) -- Fifty church and civic leaders
from Germany, Mexico, Palestinian territory in Israel and the
United States gathered Nov. 8-14 here and in Berlin for a
conference exploring Christian responses to walls.  More than a
dozen presenters shared their perspectives on walls or barriers
in their contexts -- the Berlin Wall, the separation barrier
being erected in Palestinian territory and the proposed extension
of the barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border.
     "Mighty Fortresses and Mustard Seeds: Life in the Shadow of
a Wall" was sponsored by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) Network of International Learning Centers, ELCA
Global Mission, ELCA Vocation and Education and the Evangelical
Academy of Sachsen-Anhalt.
     Conference participants discussed the church's role in
breaking down visible and invisible walls.
     The Rev. Murray D. Finck, bishop of ELCA Pacifica Synod,
Yorba Linda, Calif., said participants should listen to "what the
voice of God and the Word of God say to us today about the
brokenness" caused by walls in the world.  "If we don't look at
these problems theologically with those who are examining it from
economic and sociological perspectives, the voice of the church
is silent," said Finck.
     The conference began in Berlin, where participants observed
the 17th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Participants heard from German civic and church leaders, who
described the German church and its role as a force for peaceful
resistance that mobilized hundreds of thousands in 1989 on the
road to Germany's unification.  One German participant stated
that the church did a lot more than pray for the wall to fall:
"Prayer (was) important, but in Germany the wall came down due to
spectacular activity" on the part of the church.
     A pastor in the former East Berlin, the Rev. Manfred
Fischer, declared that during the Cold War "local politics became
world politics all of a sudden," because his church lay directly
on the dividing line between East and West.  The Church of the
Reconciliation was demolished by the East German government on
Jan. 28, 1985, "a day when we lost hope because we lost our
church."
     But less than five years later the wall fell and
congregation members gained new hope.  They built a chapel using
rubble from the old church.  "We can't forget what happened, but
we can't turn the clock back either," said Fischer.
     The conference then moved to Wittenberg, the historic heart
of the Lutheran Reformation.  Presenters compared the Berlin Wall
to the barrier in Palestinian territory and the barrier along the
U.S.-Mexico border, examining similarities and differences of
"life in the shadow of a wall" in each context.
     The Rev. Said R. Ailabouni, director, Europe and Middle East
program, ELCA Global Mission, said:  "How do we express ourselves
as Christians with regard to the wall in Palestine?  We insist
that God calls us to be peacemakers.  We are committed to peace,
not walls."
     Several Palestinian Christians examined the Israeli wall's
impact from economic, societal, urban planning and political
perspectives.  They described how it cuts off Palestinians from
access to water, farmland, trade, health care and education.
"This wall puts us in a big prison," said Victor Batarseh, mayor
of Bethlehem.
     In the area surrounding Bethlehem, the barrier is a 30-foot
high wall.  According to a May 2006 report of the U.N. Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 225 of the 437 miles
planned for the West Bank barrier have been constructed; 26 miles
are concrete wall and 199 miles are electric fence with ditches
and patrol roads.
     Dr. Bernard Sabella, a Roman Catholic and a member of the
Palestinian Legislative Council, said that the wall has been
presented as a way to stop suicide bombings and reduce Israeli
incursions into Palestinian territory.  He said, "You cannot
banish Palestinians within their own land in the name of
security."
     The Palestinian Christians called for justice, asking that
the international community uphold United Nations resolutions and
the International Court of Justice ruling in July 2004 against
the separation barrier.  In 2005 the ELCA Churchwide Assembly
established the "Peace Not Walls" campaign to advocate for the
removal of the barrier.
     The Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, Jerusalem, stated in a letter
read to conference participants, "The wall that is surrounding us
in Palestine is growing every day into a tighter concrete noose
around our cities, towns, homes and churches."  Younan wrote that
he is opposed to violence on all sides.  "In the face of
oppression and violence, we are called to be prophets for
justice, instruments of peace, voices of hope, and hands of
healing and reconciliation."
     Palestinian participants presented ways they are providing
alternatives to violence and hopelessness, witnessing to
Palestinian youth and reaching out to international partners with
a message of peace.  Rana Khoury, deputy general director of the
International Center of Bethlehem (ICB), said ICB programs
address the wall's isolating effects on young Palestinians. "We
work with a lot of young people with art, music, multimedia.
These are very important tools to break the isolation that is
being imposed on (them), and at the same time (they) connect with
the rest of the world."
     The conference focus then shifted toward the wall proposed
by the U.S. government in the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which
would extend a barrier along more than 700 miles of the nearly
2,000 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.
     The Rev. Kim Erno, ELCA program director of the Lutheran
Center in Mexico City, introduced a set of presentations that
included photography, film, cultural and historical analysis, and
personal testimony.  Erno asked whether the $8 billion needed to
extend the barrier on the border would be better invested in the
lives of the poor, who suffer in their attempt to cross over to
the United States.
     Mexican filmmakers Pablo Gleason Gonzalez and Armando
Villegas Contreras presented a documentary, "Borders: Walls and
Immigrants."  The film showed the dangers associated with
crossing into the desert regions of the border, which has
resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 immigrants in the past
five years, the economic pressures that drive Mexicans north, and
the arguments surrounding the border.
     Dr. Olivia Ruiz, cultural anthropologist at El Colegio de la
Frontera Norte in Tijuana, Mexico, presented a history of U.S.
border policy, pointing out the push-pull factors that drive
immigration: the U.S. "economic addiction" to cheap Mexican labor
mixed with increasing poverty and desperation in Mexico.
     The conference ended with members of each country's
delegation gathering to strategize and plan next steps for action
in their home country.
     The Rev. Terry K. Boggs challenged the group to take on big
issues boldly.  "What I'd like you to be about is imagining a new
future.  We will not solve the world's problems, but dare we not
take this moment in time with the Spirit moving among us to do
the best we can?" said Boggs, director for congregation-based
community organizing, ELCA Church in Society.
     The Palestinian delegation sought to build awareness through
sharing narratives and exchanging experiences, to promote
nonviolent resistance, to encourage church involvement
internationally, and to provide services for those who are
suffering because of the separation barrier.
     The Mexican delegation denounced economic policies that
increase Mexico's dependence on the United States.
     The Germans focused on raising awareness and engaging the
German church more fully.
     The U.S. delegation focused on ways to better advocate for
comprehensive immigration reform and increase support for the
Peace Not Walls campaign.
---
     More conference information and interviews with participants
are available at http://wallsconference.blogspot.com on the Web.

     * Ben McDonald Coltvet is associate director for
interpretation and planning, ELCA Communication Services.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog 

Top of Message | Previous Page | Permalink

Advanced Options


Options

Log In

Log In

Get Password

Get Password


Search Archives

Search Archives


Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Subscribe or Unsubscribe


Archives

October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
November 2018
October 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
September 2002
August 2002
July 2002
June 2002
May 2002
April 2002
March 2002
February 2002
January 2002
December 2001
November 2001
October 2001
September 2001
August 2001
July 2001
June 2001
May 2001
April 2001
March 2001
February 2001
January 2001
December 2000
November 2000
October 2000
September 2000
August 2000
July 2000
June 2000
May 2000
April 2000
March 2000
February 2000
January 2000
December 1999
November 1999
October 1999
September 1999
August 1999
July 1999
June 1999
May 1999
April 1999
March 1999
February 1999
January 1999
December 1998
November 1998
October 1998
September 1998
August 1998
July 1998
June 1998
May 1998
April 1998
March 1998
February 1998
January 1998
December 1997
November 1997
October 1997
September 1997
August 1997
July 1997
June 1997
May 1997
April 1997
March 1997
February 1997
January 1997
December 1996
November 1996
October 1996
September 1996
August 1996
July 1996
June 1996
May 1996
April 1996
March 1996
February 1996
January 1996

ATOM RSS1 RSS2



LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG

CataList Email List Search Powered by the LISTSERV Email List Manager