So let’s see – I signed off my last past (was it really a
month ago!?) promising to talk more about divestment and church politics. Probably at this point I should reiterate
that the views expressed in this blog are my own – and are written in my capacity
as a “private” person. I speak not for
the United Methodist Church, nor EAPPI, nor anyone else.
It’s no secret that the Methodist Church has been looking
at divestment for a number of years. I
first heard of BDS (Boycott/Divest/Sanctions) in the context of
Palestine/Israel in 2008, while on a Methodist Study Trip to the Holy
Land. The “powers that be” have been
arguing about it longer than that – with financial folks claiming it is (1)
fiscally irresponsible, (2) not as effective as “corporate engagement” and (3)
difficult and expensive to implement.
On the other side, those of us who are advocating for divestment
believe it can be done in a fiscally responsible way and may, in fact, be a
sounder option than continued investment in companies who are turning into
pariahs in many parts of the world.
We also believe it can be extremely effective – and cite
not only how BDS “turned the tide” on Apartheid South Africa, but also how it was
successfully used in the Civil Rights Movement (remember the bus boycotts?) and
in many other places. In fact, for me, the
strongest reason to get behind BDS was, “It worked in South Africa; it could
work in Palestine!” Another indication
of success is, of course, the increased visibility of divestment votes on
college campuses and other locales – and the corresponding upswing of
“anti-BDS” legislation – including the recent passage of a law in Illinois that
makes divestment by public bodies “illegal.”
As for “engagement,” (i.e. approaching a company as shareholders
and asking for change) – how long is that supposed to go on before one
recognizes that it isn’t working? (One
of the current divestment “targets” is Caterpillar, with whom the Methodist
Church has been involved in “engagement” for more than ten years!)
Of course, there are other arguments that arise around the
topic of divestment – accusing the proponents of anti-Semitism, for example, or
concerns about continued employment with a targeted company. All of these have answers – and all will come
into play when the Oregon-Idaho United Methodist Church considers a resolution
asking for divestment from Caterpillar (because they make the weaponized D-9
bulldozers that are used to demolish homes and uproot olive trees), Hewlett
Packard (which provides biometric monitoring of checkpoints) and Motorola (who
provides surveillance systems for settlements).
We are not the first Annual Conference (a geographical
division of the United Methodist Church) to vote on this issue – some form of
divestment has already been passed by 13 conferences and has been implemented
by three. We are, however, the only West
Coast conference not to have yet acted on this issue – our neighbors in the
Pacific Northwest and in both California conferences have already passed
similar resolutions. But, regardless of
what happens when we meet in a few weeks (June 11-13), this issue will not go
away!
In May, 2016, the Global Methodist Church will holds its
quadrennial General Conference (coincidentally right in my home town of
Portland, Oregon!), and the battle lines are already being drawn on this (and
other) issues. When the national
Presbyterian Church voted for divestment in 2014, editorial writers began
speculating on how the largest mainline Protestant Church (that’s us
Methodists!) would vote when next it met.
Stay tuned!
