by Mark Silva and updated
Hope springs eternal among opponents of the proposed George W. Bush Presidential Libary at Southern Methodist University, with the general conference of the Methodist Church this week voting overwhelmingly to refer a petition for the library's rejection to the South Central jurisdiction of the church which owns the university property.
"I hereby petition the UMC General Conference to prevent leasing, selling, or otherwise participating in or supporting the presidential library for George W. Bush at Southern Methodist University,'' a petitioner from South Carolina wrote. "We should support separation of church and state, and if the Bush library goes on the SMU campus or property it will appear to the country and the world as an endorsement of that president by the United Methodist Church.
"Texas is a big state,'' petitioner Diane Smock of Greenville, S.C., wrote. "Surely there are other venues.''
The conference's committee on Ministry and Higher Education voted 51-5 to refer it to the full conference, and the conference voted yesterday by 844-20 to refer it to the jurisdiction that controls the Dallas-based university. That jurisdiction plans a meeting in July.
"They're going to be forced to allow a vote here,'' says the Rev. Andrew Weaver, a Methodist, research psychologist and anti-war activist who is among the opponents of the library. "There will be a real vote here.''
It's not so much the library, as the research institute attached to it, that opponents are protesting. They warn that the think tank, to be dedicated to the study of the policies of the 43rd president, will besmirch the reputation of an independent university.
The university's leaders are welcoming the library, and the Bush library foundation has formally selected SMU for the facility and already hired an architect.
Scott J. Jones, bishop for the Kansas Area of the United Methodist Church and immediate past president of the South Central Jurisdiction College of Bishops, suggests that library opponents should not read too much into the general conference's decision to refer the petition to the South Central jurisdiction.
"The General Conference of the United Methodist Church did receive a petition asking it to block SMU's decision to lease land for the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Center,'' he reports. "Its decision was only to refer it to the South Central Jurisdictional Conference. In no way did it reject the decision already made by the South Central Jurisdiction's Mission Council.
"The action was merely procedural because the General Conference said the decision belonged at the Jurisdictional level. The overwhelming nature of the vote was due to the fact that it, along with 11 other petitions, was on a consent calendar of things approved overwhelmingly in committees that recommended referrals.''
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Comments
l-i-b-r-a-r-y.
It's mispelled in the 6th paragraph and the tags.
Posted by: Cheryl | May 1, 2008 3:30 PM
Thank you, Cheryl. It's fixed.
Posted by: Mark Silva | May 1, 2008 4:51 PM
This article contains inaccuracies. the Legislative Committee's recommendation was to refer the petition to the South Central Jurisdiction (by a vote of 51 to 5). That motion to refer was approved by the General Conference on the consent calendar by a vote of 844 to 20. So, when the official record says below -- "This motion was Adopted, with 844 votes for and 20 votes against" it is referring to the motion coming out of the Legislative committee to refer to the South Central Jurisdiction. The primary rationale throughout has been that this is the business of the jurisdiction not the General Conference. The GC took no stand one way or another. This came out of my leg com at Gen Conf.
Posted by: Rebekah Miles | May 1, 2008 5:52 PM
"Bush Library"?
That's an oxymoron, isn't it Mark? :-)
Posted by: John E | May 1, 2008 6:20 PM
Will there be torture in the basement?
Posted by: Greg Williams | May 1, 2008 6:44 PM
Andrew J. Weaver, Ph.D., is a United Methodist minister and research psychologist living in New York City. He is a graduate of The Perkins School of Theology, SMU. He has co-authored 14 books including: Counseling Survivors of Traumatic Events (Abingdon, 2003) and Reflections on Grief and the Spiritual Journey (Abingdon, 2005).
Posted by: andrew weaver | May 1, 2008 7:30 PM
Why build where you are not wanted by even a few? What church wants a Neocon-War Mongering-Constitution Shredding institute attached to it? This is another thing Bush wants to railroad through--that others don't want. It isn't even his college. It will make most young adults not want to attend SMU. The chickenhawk wimp has to hide behind his wife's skirt. He will be a blight where ever he goes. And this will be his fate the rest of his life if he stays in America. All due to his own actions and hubris. Maybe, The One He Holds Hands With will let him build the War Institute on his land. Or, he should just build the thing on Poppy's land in Kennebunkport. Poppy would most likely feel right at home, and he does need to take SOME responsibility.
Posted by: Vivian | May 1, 2008 8:08 PM
Bush might have more luck if he would just change the name.
"Bush" and "library" together make an oxymoron, and a rather laughable one.
Why not make it Bush's Gift Shop and Rest Facilities?
It would be far more honest too.
Posted by: John Chuckman, Toronto, Canada | May 2, 2008 9:36 AM
The only appropriate place for the George W. Bush Presidential Library is downtown Baghdad. That's where his legacy begins and ends.
Posted by: Davey | May 3, 2008 9:56 AM
As a member of The United Methodist Church, I hope and pray that the South Central Jurisdiction will not sponsor George W. Bush’s monument to torture, war, bloodshed, extreme right-wing politics and religion, and scientific ignorance. George W. Bush will never be considered a GOOD president, much less a GREAT one.
Posted by: Grace | May 4, 2008 5:26 PM