Steps toward reconciliation, 1969, reel 1.

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    Power is the password in this day and age.
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    The recent return of man from his walk on the moon is adequate testimony that we have
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    learned to harness power to a degree that was unbelievable less than 20 years ago.
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    But there is another kind of power that is being organized in the world today.
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    And we had better learn how to understand it and deal with it if we expect to be able to
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    continue our pursuit of the glamor and the mystery of the moons and planets.
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    The power we speak of is black power, brown power and red power.
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    It comes in the persons of James Forman, Cesar Chavez and Mel Tom.
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    These phrases and these names, among others, have burst upon the national scene in recent
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    months. They have also entered the offices, assemblies and sanctuaries of churches
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    and synagogues, and those who work in the offices attend the assemblies
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    and worship in the sanctuaries. People who are predominantly white and predominantly
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    Christian are bewildered and confused, and sometimes they are angry.
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    It is an anger, which is a response to anger.
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    And if you listen carefully, you can hear a silent cry across the land.
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    How do we deal with this dilemma?
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    As Christians? Tentatively, carefully.
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    Perhaps inadequately. I'll start has been made.
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    The United Presbyterian Church in the USA is one of several bodies of Christendom
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    that has been directly confronted by the various minority power groups.
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    The church is listening and it has made some decisions.
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    To better understand what the church has heard and how it has reacted.
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    Let us take some of the more significant points in the order in which they happen.
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    As the one hundred eighty first General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church
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    gathered in San Antonio, Texas, in mid-May, commissioners and employees knew
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    that black power demands had been made for reparations from the churches and synagogues
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    of the land. They knew that San Antonio is a predominantly Spanish speaking
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    area, and they knew that Indian reservations and mission stations are situated not
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    far away in the southwest United States.
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    They also knew that this General Assembly would deal seriously with programs and concerns
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    of all of these fermenting minorities, but they did not know how they would be dealing
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    with them. Decisions became imperative, though, as spokesmen from the black
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    and brown communities made their presence known through the occupation of offices of the
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    Board of National Missions in New York and McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago,
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    lost that part of the body of Jesus Christ, which professes its faith through the United
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    Presbyterian Church in the USA, prepared itself to listen to claims, pleas
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    and demands that would scorch, intimidate and rage.
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    The Wilga arouse and overwhelm the affluent white membership of this
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    particular denomination.
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    The first official word came in a news conference shortly before the General Assembly
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    began deliberations arranged by the Office of Information of the Church.
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    Those taking part in the news conference were the outgoing moderator, Dr. John Coventry's
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    Smith, and the stated clerk, Dr. William P.
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    Thompson. Here is what they said.
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    The general counsel of the United Presbyterian Church has been
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    looking at how best to bring to the assembly the issues
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    that confront the church and within the context of that consideration,
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    voted this morning to invite James Forman
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    to come to the assembly and to speak to the
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    assembly. We have indication that he will
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    accept and are negotiating a time period.
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    We believe that hearing him is the best way for us to
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    judge the validity of his request and to evaluate
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    them and then to consider them through the proper channels.
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    When demands of this kind and made upon the church, the thing
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    that we seek to do in the first instance is to engage in dialog
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    with the person making the demands in an effort to understand them
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    and to understand the reasons for making the demands in the first place.
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    If Mr. Foreman is willing to do so, we are prepared
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    to engage in such dialog with him, the need to listen, and the necessity for thoughtful
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    concern about the desperation behind the demands of games form and where echoed the next
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    day by the new moderator of the General Assembly, Dr. Jorge Sweezy.
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    Well, I think the fact that he's been invited doesn't imply any recognition either
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    of him or of the willingness of the demands, the reasonableness of them families making.
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    But it does mean that he is one of the most trusted figures on the religious
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    scene today.
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    He's certainly in the center of the news and his home
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    concerns right now are directed at religious institutions.
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    And so it's important for this assembly that is to
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    nobody's getting to heaven on the scene to try
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    and understand. And to receive him with a good deal of sympathy.
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    By sympathy, I don't mean sympathizing with his and
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    his demands, but sympathizing with the rage, urgencies
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    that are behind these.
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    In other words, for for us to just pay no attention to him, I think would be infecting
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    a tremendously important thing that's happened before.
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    James Forman could place his views and demands before the General Assembly.
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    Oh, bad. Lopez appeared in San Antonio representing the Poor People's Coalition of
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    Chicago, a brown power group that had occupied McCormack seminary facilities
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    the previous week. At another news conference during the General Assembly,
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    Mr. Lopez was asked whether or not the Chicago occupation had been prompted by
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    James Forman seizure of national mission's offices in New York.
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    He replied in the negative knighting that the actions that were taken by the
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    People's Foundation in Lincoln Park, where actions that famous
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    that had its own internal explanation.
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    We went to the board of directors of the McCormick Theological Seminary.
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    We attempted to reason with them. We attempted to develop to develop a dialog.
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    And after we exhausted all possible avenues to
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    come to a satisfactory understanding between the
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    institution and the community, after we exhausted all those avenues,
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    we decided to open the institution in
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    its united policy through the section of the Stone
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    Administration building.
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    James Foremans addressed the General Assembly.
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    Commissioners' was delayed as he relinquished part of his time to another Brown Power
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    spokesman, Elías, our riscoe of La Raza, at a news conference immediately
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    following that appearance. Mr. Riscoe spoke to reporters about the magnitude of
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    the confrontation between minorities and the church.
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    There's a confrontation that goes deeper than any given amount of money.
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    It wouldn't be difficult for the jurors to allocate five hundred thousand dollars
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    or fifty million dollars or a hundred million dollars.
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    The confrontation comes when it didn't challenge.
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    Here is the role of the jurors itself.
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    When you ask the villagers this is its investment or liquidate the
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    investments. Then the corporate bodies, as finance agents have in South
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    Africa and in Latin America, that that money
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    or those holdings be made available to black people.
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    People of La Raza for community development, economic and otherwise.
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    Then you have the confrontation.
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    Probably the best known portion of the total confrontation is the demands made by
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    James Forman on behalf of the National Black Economic Development Conference.
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    Although Mr. Foreman's precise relationship to the NBA, EDC is often confusing
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    and frequently disputed by him and others, the basic fact facing the church
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    at large is a demand for five hundred million dollars.
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    From what Mr. Foreman terms, the white racist Christian churches and Jewish synagogues
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    of the US payable to the National Black Economic Development Conference.
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    Mr. Foreman contends that that organization will use the money to fulfill the ambitious
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    program outlined in the document known as the Black Manifesto.
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    You will recall that these objectives include establishment of a southern land bank for
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    major publishing houses or television centers, a research skill center
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    and other projects for the direct benefit of black people in the United States.
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    It is impossible to quote a precise dollar amount for demands made upon the United
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    Presbyterian, sure, but it certainly is fair to say that they are substantial.
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    Perhaps of greater importance as the indictment placed against the membership by James
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    Forman and others with similar concerns, again at a General Assembly
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    news conference. Mr. Foreman articulated his position in these words.
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    We maintain that the church has been a part of the exploitation as
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    the National Committee of Black Church, and they have pointed out that the membership of
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    the church have been involved in that exploitation.
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    The churches go wealthy through contributions of its membership and its
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    investment.
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    And the church cannot be separated as just a religious institution,
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    aside from its financial acquisitiveness.
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    You know, the church has tremendous amount of investments today which come from the
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    accumulated wealth since its inception in the United States.
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    And that means its exploitation.
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    No, certainly black people and the Catholic Church in terms of the people
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    of La Raza throughout the world.
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    So that's why I was selected then.
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    We're precisely we're trying to get over the idea in this
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    country today not to see the church solely as some religious institution
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    and not engage in commercial activity because it is engaged in commercial activity.
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    They're heavily engaged in commercial activity.
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    And the Presbyterian Church in particular is very heavily engaged in the commercial
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    activity. Otherwise, we would not be raising the question of liquidating
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    the assets in South Africa.
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    James Forman added another dimension to this position when one of the reporters
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    asked him whether or not he is a Christian.
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    I'm a humanist.
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    I wouldn't consider myself a Christian in the sense that formal Christian religion.
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    I think I'm perhaps a little more Christian than many Christians.
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    I would say that I would say that I'm certainly more of a Christian than a lot of
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    Christians because I take very seriously many of the ethical teachings
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    of Jesus in terms of love them, their fellow man as ourselves and what have
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    you, and that these are principles that I have been acting upon and that the brother
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    here from La Raza is, in fact, acting upon.
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    And also, I think that it doesn't matter.
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    You see, you know what a man says he is, according to the Bible.
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    I mean, people according to Jesus, the question of what of his deeds, what does he, in
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    fact, do? And that's what we're saying, is that many people who go around saying that
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    they are Christians and many people who have said that they were Christians in the past
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    and still owned slaves and still exploded, our people were not, in fact,
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    Christians, and that it's been this kind of degeneracy in the church, which has
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    made many, many people skeptical of the church, including myself.
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    But that doesn't make the moral force which we're trying to generate upon the church
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    any less significant.
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    So the churches listen carefully and often during the course of the one hundred eighty
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    first General Assembly. Now, what has been its response?
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    The first formal reaction. The essence of which has prevailed ever since, came in a
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    report to the General Assembly from the General Council, which had been charged by
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    commissioners to prepare a response after the addresses by James Forman Elías,
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    our Riscoe and OBD Lopez.
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    The statement of the general counsel was delivered by Dr. John Coventry's Smith, serving
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    as chairman of that body.
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    Here is the bulk of that message as it was given over the public address system to the
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    one hundred eighty first General Assembly.
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    As a church, we have seldom in history been more aware of our involvement
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    in and with the world.
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    And during this General Assembly in Jesus Christ, we have come
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    into confrontation with God by the cross of Christ.
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    We are called to respond in faith, love and service.
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    It is in this context that the general counsel invited the representatives
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    of La Raza and the National Black Economic Development Conference to speak
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    to us. We have listened to them and have heard their demands.
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    We thank them for sharing with us their frustrations and their desires.
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    We are not negotiating.
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    But we assure them that we will continue to listen and be
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    open to communication and conversation.
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    As a church, we have a responsibility to be sensitive to human need
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    and frustration, such as we have heard expressed in and
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    behind these statements.
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    The general counsel reaffirms the importance of emphasis by this assembly
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    on the Chicanos and on Hispanic America, America as
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    a whole.
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    In our careful consideration of these issues, we respond
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    in concern and respect.
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    Other recommendations have been and will be considered by boards
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    and agencies.
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    Effective use of land held by the boards and now not actively involved in program
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    has already been under consideration.
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    Certainly, it is important that we continue to strive for
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    a full response to the mandate of the 180 of the General Assembly in 1968
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    concerning the investment of unrestricted capital funds of boards and agencies,
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    including seminaries and church colleges in ghetto housing and economic
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    development.
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    We repeat the recommendations of the one hundred and 80th General Assembly urging
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    the congregations of our denomination to join in this effort.
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    Investing a portion of their capital funds in similar projects through
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    the established channels of the church, specifically PETKO.
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    We believe our action and the spirit of our action
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    must be, first of all, in obedience to Christ.
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    And not in response to demands from outside the church
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    or alienation within.
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    Let us continue to be open to the spirit of God in whatever ways he speaks
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    to us. Repentance and obedience to God must be the
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    way of the Christian church in every crisis in life.
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    The response you have just heard was accepted by commissioners, but they wanted it to be
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    expanded upon and subjected to additional critical deliberation.
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    That's a special committee of 15 commissioners was appointed to refine this statement
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    in consultation with members of the general council.
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    They in turn brought back another statement in response to the complaints and demands
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    issued earlier. The statement of the Committee of Fifteen was also essentially received,
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    but it was strengthened during floor debate with inclusion of an amendment spelling out
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    specifically that the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the USA
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    does not condone the use of violence in the settlement of domestic problems, nor does it
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    approve of those who advocate the violent overthrow of the government.
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    In a letter to pastors of the church mailed from San Antonio by the new moderator,
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    Dr. George Sweezy said The fact is that no church money is being
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    put into funds which are under the control of Mr. Foremans group.
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    The assembly did what it did through its own channels and in its own way.
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    The General Assembly also took some specific actions that can be translated into a
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    program and help it charged a new council on troop support to prepare
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    a plan to be reported to the next General Assembly, calling for the raising of at least
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    50 million dollars in new funds to aid the poor of this nation.
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    The Board of Christian Education was directed to provide fifty thousand dollars to aid
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    Spanish speaking Americans.
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    The Board of National Missions received a similar directive to provide one hundred
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    thousand dollars for the assistance of Indian Americans.
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    The Board of National Missions and the Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations.
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    Both were told to make available a total of one hundred thousand dollars, fifty thousand
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    from each agency for use by the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization.
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    That money was to be released when IFFCO has approved the manner in which it is to be
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    held and administered.
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    All of these funds are to come from non general mission sources at the direction of the
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    General Assembly. In addition, the Board of National Missions was instructed
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    to locate money for grants to sharecroppers for the purchase of land and two of the
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    board's Christian education and national missions.
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    We're told to make better use of land presently owned by the church in the south and
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    southwest for the Board of Christian Education.
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    This includes Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, a portion of which is to be turned over to local
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    Spanish American residents with assistance for acquisition of water rights.
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    The Board of National Missions was told to find ways for people living in poverty,
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    particularly black people in the states of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North
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    Carolina and Mississippi, and Spanish Americans and Indians in the Southwest
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    to own lands and to utilize possibilities for development of any lands presently owned
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    by the board that are not essential to operating programs of the church.
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    Yes, the church is taking action, action that was affirmed unequivocally during
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    the summer in an open letter from the Board of National Missions and the Commission on
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    Ecumenical Mission and Relations.
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    The heart of that message was issued in these words by Dr. Kenneth Deny,
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    General Secretary of the Board of National Missions.
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    Since the General Assembly of San Antonio Kumara, national
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    missions have been engaged in the first stages of reshaping
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    objectives and programs.
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    So that we may be able to deal more adequately with social
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    and economic development in relationship to both black and brown communities
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    at home and overseas.
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    And facing the urgency for action, the presentation made by
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    James Forman, the National Black Economic Development Conference,
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    has both helped and hindered us.
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    His demands have reminded us of the gigantic dimensions
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    of our racial problem and the anger generated by its
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    long neglect.
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    They have also pointed to our own part in the racist society
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    and the magnitude of our relative affluence.
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    But the demands of the black manifesto are set within the framework
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    of a simplified Marxist ideology.
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    Its methods are ultimately those of force and violence.
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    It rejects the democratic process and makes a blanket condemnation
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    of the church as a tool of colonialism and oppression.
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    These things we cannot in good conscience accept.
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    From our vantage point as general secretaries of our agencies,
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    it is quite clear that the day of great statements
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    and mere promises is over.
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    We see no easy answer to the questions that have been raised.
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    We must reexamine our previous plans and mission strategies so
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    as to be prepared to share in the projects proposed by those who have been
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    isolated. But the challenge is deeper than that.
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    And we cannot presume to announce judgments on issues which cannot
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    yet the judge. We are not dealing with the foreman issue
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    or the black manifesto issue.
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    We're dealing with a revolution in relationships.
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    We're dealing with a long overdue and honest confrontation within
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    the church between white churchmen and black and brown church.
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    Together, we reject the Marxist ideology which has been thrown at us
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    and all the violence that threatens.
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    But together, we are forced to face what churches can do and should do
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    toward helping to solve the injustices these militants are rebelling against.
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    All of this is to say that the church has responded not to demands, but it needs
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    the response probably has not been adequate in many cases.
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    But an honest concern has been evidence for the problems that lie behind the expression
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    of demands that might seem outlandish, abusive or unrealistic
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    when dealing with relationships among men.
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    The church has appropriately addressed itself to reconciliation.
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    The committee of fifteen said it threw the one hundred eighty first General Assembly in
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    these words. As in biblical times, God spoke to his people
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    through strange prophets. So we deem it appropriate to have invited to our assemblies
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    spokesman from the brown and black minorities that through voices such as theirs.
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    However angry the tone, we might better appreciate the depth of their plight.
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    We do not agree with all their methods, ideas and programs.
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    Our concern is to hear through their pleas.
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    The call of Christ and where possible, to identify with them in their hope
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    and to work with them toward a more human future for all man.
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    We do this not from fear, but from love.
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    To do less is to reject our Lord.
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    The power of reconciliation came to us packaged in the person of Jesus Christ.
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    That power remains with us today in the person of the Holy Spirit.
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    We who call ourselves Christian are called upon by our lord and by our church
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    to practice this power of reconciliation in order that mankind can achieve a balance
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    of power that will bring peace to this troubled world.

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