Apparently the United Methodist Church is anti-gun

[firedawg60]

From where does the General Board of Church and Society get their funding/money to promote their anti-gun agenda?

 

[redneck2]

I grew up in a Methodist church. Used to be on the board at one of the largest ones in our region.

Then I figured out that they give significant funding to antigun <deleted> organizations. Last money they get from me.

IMO, even if your local church so not anti gun, part of your money is still going to fund it at a national level. Then you become part of the problem

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

lilguy - if you and some other like-minded members withhold your tithes and offerings, and let them know why, you will be surprised at how quickly things might change. At my church, people put a slip of paper in the offering envelopes "we will be not be contributing to the church until X issue is addressed".

My wife is ELCA and the church we belong to has had a series of liberal anti gun pastors.
We both, all 3 counting the teenage daughter, stopped attending.
Another new pastor starts Sunday, we'll see how that goes...

 

[Hypnogator]

The United Methodist Church isn't only anti-gun, it's anti-self-defense

The Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church explicitly considers it immoral to possess a firearm for defensive purposes. They consider it a victim's moral duty to submit to whatever a criminal demands rather than do anything that might imperil a criminal's life. Its official publication rhetorically asks "Is the Robber My Brother?" and answers "yes," arguing that although the burglary victim or the "woman accosted in the park by a rapist is [not] likely to consider the violator to be a neighbor whose safety is of immediate concern, [c]riminals are members of the larger community no less than are others. As such they are our neighbors or, as Jesus put it, our brothers."

:banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

[Praxidike]

It seems like antis are exploiting church and religion in order to indoctrinate children and church members. Plus, no way that the UMC donating money or taking up this cause so strongly without getting something in return.

 

[Lafitte]

I am a longtime member of the UMC, the resolution exists in theory but not in practice in any UMC that I have been in.

Lafitte

 

[Midwest]

support federal legislation in the US Congress to regulate the importation, manufacturing, sale, and possession of guns and ammunition by the general public. Such legislation should include provisions for the registration and licensing of gun purchasers and owners, appropriate background investigation and waiting periods prior to gun purchase, and regulation of subsequent sale;.....call upon all governments of the world in which there is a United Methodist presence to establish national bans on ownership by the general public of handguns, assault weapons, automatic weapon conversion kits, and weapons that cannot be detected by traditionally used metal-detection devices;"

I wonder if the UMC is getting donations or favors from the Left to push the issue.

The UMC's General Board of Church and Society has long been a hotbed of antigun activism. It has its headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. In 1974, it helped form Michael Beard's National Coalition to Ban Handguns, with which it shared office space. (This organization was renamed to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence in 1989.)

Has the church been violating it's non profit 501c3 status by these sort of activities?
.

 

[herrwalther]

I am a longtime member of the UMC, the resolution exists in theory but not in practice in any UMC that I have been in.

And that makes it better how? As redneck2 put it, it does not matter if YOUR local chapter is anti gun if the national level that sets the policy. If the money you toss in the collection plate goes toward the Brady campaign or the Violence policy center, you are unwillingly part of the problem.

 

[4v50 Gary]

The political disconnect between the local and national UMC is huge.

This is true of many organizations. The leadership gets bought out, typically with grants from some foundation. Of course, the grant has strings attached to it and if those conditions aren't met, the funding is cut off.

 

[P5 Guy]

I think if one looks closely at all the national governing documents of all religious organizations one will find they all contain similar statements.
Happily I was not brought up in a religious home.

 

[Sistema1927]

P5 Guy, that sure was a broad brush you just used. I assume that you have not seen the same type of documentation for the Southern Baptist Convention, since it doesn't exist.

 

[Texgun]

I resigned my membership from UMC back when we received a church bulletin that referred to U S soldiers in Vietnam as "baby killers."

That should give folks an idea of how long ago that was.

Our family got very tired of the denominations' far lean to the left / blame America first attitudes fostered by the UMC Board on Church and Society.

If still a member I would love to engage in meaningful discussion of the topic, but their baseline shows a total lack of understanding (or most likely outright lying) about the subject.

 

[redneck2]

Is there a credible site that lists organizations that are anti gun?

 

[P5 Guy]

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is also against its members arming themselves for self-defense. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church has publicly stated it is opposed to the killing of anyone for any reason.

 

[Red Wind]

Is there a credible site that lists organizations that are anti gun?

A bit outdated (2009) but they should be credible.

http://www.gunowners.org/fs0302.htm

 

[IlikeSA]

The UMC is indeed left leaning on a wide variety of topics. So much so, that there has been talk at my church of secession should it continue to lean more and more left. On a side note, I am a part time pastor there and carry.

 

[herrwalther]

I resigned my membership from UMC back when we received a church bulletin that referred to U S soldiers in Vietnam as "baby killers."

First time I got called baby killer I was skiing and was outed as part of the evil military machine by my camouflage jacket, it was all I had. They were shocked when my response was "Thank you and to your wonderful family as well." But I digress.

Despite nearly every religious text advocating some form of self defense, the leaders of the world's religions have drank the Brady campaign Kool-aid that firearms are evil; instead of accepting firearms as tools of the good and bad alike.

 

[jrdolall]

Leaving the congregation is not the answer. Vocally opposing the doctrine and WITHHOLDING your tithes IS the answer. Make it known that your tithes are going elsewhere and that you are enjoying all the Church has to offer but will not be donating your money to support anti-gun causes. If the pastor doesn't like it then just keep reminding him that your tithes are going to support something other than his church.

We had a Baptist preacher that went on a tirade about alcohol many years back and actually was about to run off some of our best members that owned a chain of Piggly Wiggly stores. They were excellent members who tithed regularly and were very active in the church and community. We talked many times and eventually they did just this thing. They withheld their tithes and it became noticeable very quickly as they were the largest donor to the church in pretty much every category. One thing many pastors like above all others is money and the Deacons of the church quickly made a change.

I imagine the UMC would remove a pastor if revenue declined precipitously. If you feel compelled to tithe then do so but do NOT give it to this church.

 

[Slotback]

The UMC at the top has been anti gun for a long time.

 

[jaysouth]

My daughter and her family attended a large UMC church that had a large number of faculty from an adjacent large University with a national reputation.

She endured the anti-gun messages from the clergy but quit when it was decided that the American flag (standard actually) would be removed from the sanctuary because it was too "bellicose".

Stupid loons, there would be no UMC except for that flag.

 

[Dain Bramage]

Herrwalther: thank you from me and my wonderful family for your service.

 

[Paul7]

The UMC is not alone. We used to go to a church with a wonderful pastor. He retired, and the new pastor went on anti-gun as well as other far left rants more than once. I was one of many members who sat down with him to let him know we come to church to learn about God, not politics, but he was relentless in pushing his agenda. Needless to say, we found another church.

Good move, next problem.

 

[TimSr]

In the 60's and 70's the United Methodist movement involved uniting many small churches, mostly Methodist and Brethren under one national organization. I've been an officer in a small UMC for many years. The small local churches have been at odds with the national organization pretty much since the "unification". The small UM churches are usually in rural areas and individual church "theology" often has little resemblence to the national edicts. The UMC org has a lot of financial control over the small churches. If you are a memeber of one of these small churches you do need to push back against the org and their politics, in spite of the financial intimidation. The gun issue is not the only one that has left me disgusted, but it is the one that is relevant here.

This much parallels the plight of local labor unions vs the politics of their national counter parts or like the entire state of NY basically being controlled by NYC.

We have one member is a hunter safety instructor, and we hold hunter safety classes in the church basement. He used to hold them elsewhere but we asked him to move them there to not only educate young hunters, but show the cmmunity where we as a church stand.

 

[Sam1911]

[Guys, keep this focused on the church's policies on gun control and how to fight it and we'll be cool. Wander into discussions of religious doctrine or other social issues and we are most certainly DONE. Thanks.]

 

[Midwest]

Has anyone investigated to see if the Church's anti-gun activities, activism and political activism have violated their 501C3 Non profit charter/status?
.