Proposed Bush Library Divides U.S. Methodists

c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) When United Methodists weigh what’s at stake in a plan to put a George W. Bush presidential library and policy institute at Southern Methodist University, they see a lot more than politics. For the faithful on both sides of this hot-button issue, it’s about the integrity of the church. […]

c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) When United Methodists weigh what’s at stake in a plan to put a George W. Bush presidential library and policy institute at Southern Methodist University, they see a lot more than politics.

For the faithful on both sides of this hot-button issue, it’s about the integrity of the church. More specifically, it’s about what the church represents and what it rejects.


Critics of the library and policy institute plan have collected more than 9,000 signatures on an online petition since Jan. 17. They say Bush’s management of the “war on terror” has been incompatible with Methodist ethical principles. In their opinion, institutions established to preserve Bush’s legacy and the name “Methodist” should not mix.

“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.

“Having the Bush library at SMU will strengthen the witness of the United Methodist Church,” said Bishop Scott Jones of Kansas, an SMU trustee. “It makes a statement that political conservatives have a place in our denomination, as well as political liberals. … The church’s willingness to embrace diverse political opinions is a witness for how people can get along (in) a culture that is being torn apart and polarized.”

What began as an internal flap at SMU became a national debate for Methodists after a library site-selection committee in December named SMU the sole finalist. Critics fear a privately funded policy institute, or think tank,will tie the Methodist name to a partisan public relations enterprise. Opponents are calling on the Methodist Church to forbid use of SMU property for such a purpose.

The Bush brouhaha brings out familiar fault lines between theological liberals and conservatives across the 8 million-member denomination. Methodists have battled for years over issues such as gay clergy and abortion.

The same people who have argued for pluralism within the denomination on matters of doctrine are insisting on a particular brand of ethical purity in the public square, supporters of the Bush library say.


“Is affiliation with the Bush administration the only `heresy’ at a church-related school that is unacceptable to liberal United Methodist bishops and clerics?” asked Mark Tooley, UMAction director at the conservative Institute for Religion and Democracy in Washington, D.C.

Critics of the library plan are fuming in part because of George and Laura Bush’s relationship with the denomination. President Bush, a former Episcopalian who converted to Methodism, has reportedly refused to meet with Methodist bishops during his presidency.

“He meets with Jerry Falwell. He meets with James Dobson,” said the Rev. Andrew Weaver, a New York City psychotherapist and Methodist minister who helped organize the Web-based petition. “But he won’t talk to bishops who are supposed to be his spiritual advisors.”

The Bushes have not regularly attended a Methodist church during their six years in Washington. Although Laura Bush is an SMU alumna and the Bushes maintain membership at Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, some question whether the president belongs in the denomination.

“If someone has a set of values that runs so contrary to the values of the United Methodist Church, why be United Methodist?” asked Susanne Johnson, an associate professor of Christian education at SMU. “Why not be part of another denomination?”

Methodism traces its roots to John Wesley, an 18th century Anglican cleric with an evangelical zeal for saving souls and social action. Today, the core of that tradition is also on the line, Johnson said, as believers of her stripe vie to “take back evangelical religion” from the political right. She described the policy institute proposal as “sinister.”


For Methodists, the presidential library dispute rings familiar. Duke University, which also has Methodist ties, irked some of the denomination’s political conservatives in 1982 when it withdrew from contention to host former President Richard M. Nixon’s presidential library.

SMU officials reject suggestions that a Bush policy institute should have to answer to some sort of editorial review board in order operate in affiliation with the university.

“SMU will never in any way be restrictive of speech,” said Brad Cheves, the university’s vice president for development and external affairs.

Critics aren’t convinced the Bush administration’s papers would undergo thorough public examination as part of a truth-seeking query in the spirit of Methodism. McElvaney noted that the administration signed orders in 2001 that will protect much of the administration’s record from public review.

Even so, Jones said, “researchers seldom get access to everything they would like to have.” And to frame the debate in a Methodist environment will be ideal for bringing moral and ethical concerns to bear, according Kenneth Collins, professor of historical theology and Wesley studies at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky.

“Let’s have the conversation,” Collins said. “If we disagree with what the Bush administration did, (SMU) would be a great place to do it, (but) don’t silence the voices before you have the conversation.”


DSB/LF END MACDONALD

Editors: To obtain a photo of Southern Methodist University’s main quad, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.

Editors: `UMAction’ in 10th graf is cq

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