Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace | Page 13

Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace

III. The Two-State Approach from a Values Perspective
A. A Framework of Christian Values and Human Rights
1. Our Values
We recognize that the Presbyterian Church (USA) is first of all a church, not
merely an NGO comprised of religious people. As a Christian church, its primary
allegiance is to Jesus Christ, who is its head and upon whose grace it always relies.
Further, we recognize the Presbyterian Church (USA) stands in the Reformed tradition.
As such, its vision is shaped by a particular set of theological claims: the sovereignty of
God over all things; the centrality of Jesus Christ in understanding this sovereign God;
the authority of Scripture as it bears witness to Jesus Christ; the ubiquity of sin to distort
vision, damage relationships, and harm all parts of God's good world; the power of grace
to overcome sin and make all things new; the wisdom within the long witness of the
church's confessions. The Presbyterian Church (USA) expresses this vision through
values that shape its actions in all contexts, including the context of this report.
Values form the theological heart of our report. The church advocates for upholding
the downtrodden and oppressed, while working to enhance the dignity and well being of
all people. These values form a universal message based in the belief that a sovereign
God, made perfectly manifest in Jesus Christ as he is witnessed in Scriptures, cares for all
people at all times. Many Christian values are relevant in a context as complex and
contested as Israel-Palestine, but certain of our values deserve priority here:
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The Dignity of All Persons. The God who has created all human beings, male and
female, in the divine image (Gen 1:27) and commanded us to love them (Mark 12:2821) is the same God who invites us into his great mission of reconciliation (Matt
28:18-20). We begin to participate in that mission as we recognize that all persons
carry the peculiar, unquantifiable, and indelible dignity that comes in human
existence before God. All categories that divide persons must dissolve in the face of
recognition of this dignity —no matter how functional or useless they are to us; no
matter how benign or malignant they become for us; no matter how taught or innate
they are. Regardless of our tendencies to choose sides, submit to tribal loyalties, or
resist complexities in dealing with seemingly entrenched and intransigent conflicts,
our first obligation is to honor the dignity of all persons with whom we \