MAY 6TH TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

Sunday, May 6^th

Our topics this week:

Suicide

Media and Communication Technology

Governments and the Church

2020 DRAFT SOCIAL PRINCIPLES

The Nurturing Community

J. Death and Dying

b. Suicide, Death and Dying

Nothing, including suicide, “separates us from the love of God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:38-­‐39, NRSV). We now know that for many chronic mental health conditions are not a failure of the will, but a tragic illness that, if left untreated, may result in self-harm. Persons who complete suicide should not be condemned. We urge congregations and local communities to remove harmful stigmas surrounding suicide. Appropriate pastoral care must be grounded in compassion and love, not judgment and finding fault.

We encourage increased education in the Church, regarding the theological and ethical issues related to suicide, death and dying. The Church must ensure that all persons have access to pastoral care or therapy when circumstances have led to a loss of self-­‐worth. Through preaching, teaching, and lived practice, we proclaim the Good News that every person is made in the image of God, touched by God’s grace, and fiercely loved by God from birth, throughout life, in death and beyond death. We believe that love is as strong as death (cf. Song of Solomon 8:6).

CURRENT SOCIAL PRINCIPLES

Suicide

We believe that suicide is not the way a human life should end. Often suicide is the result of untreated depression, or untreated pain and suffering. The church has an obligation to see that all persons have access to needed pastoral and medical care and therapy in those circumstances that lead to loss of self-worth, suicidal despair, and/or the desire to seek physician-assisted suicide. We encourage the church to provide education to address the biblical, theological, social, and ethical issues related to death and dying, including suicide. United Methodist theological seminary courses should also focus on issues of death and dying, including suicide.

A Christian perspective on suicide begins with an affirmation of faith that nothing, including suicide, separates us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). Therefore, we deplore the condemnation of people who complete suicide, and we consider unjust the stigma that so often falls on surviving family and friends.

We encourage pastors and faith communities to address this issue through preaching and teaching. We urge pastors and faith communities to provide pastoral care to those at risk, survivors, and their families, and to those families who have lost loved ones to suicide, seeking always to remove the oppressive stigma around suicide. The Church opposes assisted suicide and euthanasia.

2020 DRAFT SOCIAL PRINCIPLES

The Social Community

N. Media and Communication Technology

Scripture offers this counsel, “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, NRSV). Because effective, personal communication empowers and affords members of society the privilege and responsibility to participate more fully, and because of the power afforded by information communication technologies to shape society, we believe that access to these technologies is a basic right. Technology should be open and accessible to all.

Technologies may be used to enhance the quality of life and provide a means for social interaction with governments, peoples, and cultures across the world. However,technologies can also distort and damage relationships within communities and the larger society. The manipulation of media for false, illicit, or illegal means damages human and diminishes our common life together.

We support freedom of the press and universal, open access to technological

communication and informational services.

We support the regulation and oversight of media communication technologies to ensure reliable and independent information sources are available to all.

Denying access of basic and accurate information, through communication technologies and their infrastructures, due to financial cost or availability, limits participation in government and society. We support the goal of universal and affordable technological communication and informational services.

CURRENT SOCIAL PRINCIPLES

Information Communication Technology

Because effective personal communication is key to being a responsible and empowered member of society, and because of the power afforded by information communication technologies to shape society and enable individuals to participate more fully, we believe that access to these technologies is a basic right.

Information communication technologies provide us with information, entertainment, and a voice in society. They can be used to enhance our quality of life and provide us with a means to interact with each other, our government, and people and cultures all over the world. Most information about world events comes to us by the broadcast, cable, print media, and the Internet. Concentrating the control of media to large commercial interests limits our choices and often provides a distorted view of human values. Therefore, we support the regulation of media communication technologies to ensure a variety of independent information sources and provide for the public good.

Personal communication technologies such as the Internet allow persons to communicate with each other and access vast information resources that can have commercial, cultural, political, and personal value. While the Internet can be used to nurture minds and spirits of children and adults, it is in danger of being overrun with commercial interests and is used by some to distribute inappropriate and illegal material. Therefore, the Internet must be managed responsibly in order to maximize its benefits while minimizing its risks, especially for children. Denying access in today’s world to basic information communication technologies like the Internet due to their cost or availability, limits people’s participation in their government and society. We support the goal of universal access to telephone and Internet services at an affordable price.

2020 DRAFT SOCIAL PRINCIPLES

The Political Community

A. Governments and the Church

As revealed both in God’s Word and in God’s world, “God alone reigns over the whole of creation” (Luke 12:22-­‐32, NRSV). As Christians, we recognize the ultimate sovereignty of God, and yet are subject to human laws. Though the formal relationship between church and state may vary from nation to nation, the Church affirms the independence and integrity of both institutions as having utmost importance, with neither church nor state, attempting to control or dominate the other.

Remembering the biblical injunction to protect, “sojourners, widows and orphans” (cf. Lev. 19:9-­‐10; Deut. 10:18, NRSV), it is the obligation of governments and the Church to

demonstrate care for those who are socially disadvantaged or who lack adequate access to resources needed to thrive, including those who are rendered stateless as a result of internal and external conflict or disaster.

As a Church, we are committed to respect and pray for those who bear a responsibility

to govern, even as we exercise a public and prophetic role to challenge those who hold

authority, and to advocate for those living in vulnerable and oppressed communities.

CURRENT SOCIAL PRINCIPLES

Church and State Relations

The United Methodist Church has for many years supported the separation of church and state. In some parts of the world this separation has guaranteed the diversity of religious expressions and the freedom to worship God according to each person’s conscience. Separation of church and state means no organic union of the two, but it does permit interaction. The state should not use its authority to promote particular religious beliefs (including atheism), nor should it require prayer or worship in the public schools, but it should leave students free to practice their own religious convictions. We believe that the state should not attempt to control the church, nor should the church seek to dominate the state. The rightful and vital separation of church and state, which has served the cause of religious liberty, should not be misconstrued as the abolition of all religious expression from public life.