 Committee OKs hate crimes resource without reading recommended documents By Paula R. Kincaid The Layman Online Tuesday, May 27, 2003
One committee member expressed his discomfort in approving something that he had not read, but said he would have to trust the staff's recommendation. The approved recommendations include: 1. Commend to individuals, congregations and presbyteries for study and advocacy When Hate Groups Comes to Town: A Handbook of Effective Community Responses, faith-based edition, published by the Center for Democratic Renewal, and policy papers approved by past General Assemblies including the "Resolution on Paramilitary Activity in the United States of America," the "Joint Resolution on the Christian Identity Movement" and "6-83 From the NCCC Governing Board" [National Anti-Klan Network]. 2. Urge the General Assembly Council, through its ministries divisions and their program areas, to continue to work on these issues and promote the document for churchwide study and use. Vernon Broyles, a member of the General Assembly Council staff who presented the recommendation to the committee, said it has a long history and is a response to a referral from a past General Assembly. "The assembly told us to do something and now, sometime later, we are coming before you and saying that the advisory committee recommends that this be done," he said. He said the previous assembly asked that resources dealing hate crimes be made available, that they were to include the issue of violence against gay and lesbian persons. Broyles said the Center for Democratic Renewal, which used to be called the National Anti-Klan Network, produced a document called When Hate Groups Come to Town that discussed major hate groups in the United States, how they came about, how they were funded and where to go for help if a hate crime occurs in the community. He said a third edition of the document is now available and, instead of trying to create a new resource, the advisory committee decided to identify the document as a resource for the church. Broyles held up a copy, but said that it's cost of $20 each made denominational leadership decide against buying copies for each committee member. "Our answer [to the assembly's referral] is to recommend the new edition of this document," he said, plus three previous General Assembly-approved policies. Broyles said that, if the committee approved the recommendation, it was saying that the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy has done what the General Assembly asked it to do. The final vote on the recommendation was 55 in favor and one against. |
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