Do Episcopalians want us to support torture too?

One of the many problems with the Episcopal sect is their unwavering support for abortion. Now it appears that they want us to support torture as well.

In a recent appeal, the Episcopal Policy Network (aka official Episcopal lobbyists), asked Episcopalians to call upon Congress to "change" the the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act of 2018 (ATCA). Here is their plea,

"In 2018, Congress passed the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA), which updated several elements of the Anti-Terrorism Act. One consequence of this legislation is that it is preventing Palestinians from receiving U.S. government assistance, including humanitarian aid. We must urge Congress to find a solution so that the Palestinian people can continue to receive life-saving assistance!The U.S. provides critical humanitarian support to the Palestinian people through a variety of funding mechanisms, including NGOs and civil society organizations, as well as in partnership with the Palestinian Authority. As a result of ATCA, those organizations will no longer receive U.S. funds, despite the dire humanitarian needs. The East Jerusalem Hospital Network - including the St. John Eye Hospital, the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem's Princess Basma Rehabilitation Centre, and the Lutheran Augusta Victoria Hospital - are still suffering from the effects of last year's cuts, and they will not be able to continue to provide life-saving care unless funding resumes. NGOs such as Catholic Relief Services have been forced to close offices and stop providing services such as food assistance. ATCA has also resulted in the end of security assistance funding for Palestinians, which is of great to concern to Israeli and Palestinian security.

Congress must find a way for humanitarian aid to reach the Palestinians again; reach out to Congress, and ask them to make this change!"

Their argument is that some of our tax dollars (they believe) goes for "humanitarian" aid.

Human Rights Watch, knows what our money really goes to support, torture.

"The primary security agencies implicated in the abuses documented in this report include Hamas’ Internal Security and the PA’s Preventive Security, Intelligence Services, and Joint Security Committee. PA security forces operate with significant support from the United States and Europe and in coordination with the Israeli army. Hamas receives financial aid from Iran, Qatar, and Turkey...

Human Rights Watch’s investigation based on 147 interviews further indicates that the mistreatment and torture of those in Palestinian custody is routine, in particular in Hamas’ Internal Security custody in Gaza and in the PA’s Intelligence, Preventive Security, and Joint Security Committee detention facilities in Jericho. The habitual, deliberate, widely known use of torture, using similar tactics over years with no action taken by senior officials in either authority to stop these abuses, make these practices systematic. They also indicate that torture is governmental policy for both the PA and Hamas."

While the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act may have some issues regarding Israel's border security that need to be fixed, restoring funding for torture groups should not be the solution.

This is not the first time anti-Israeli actions have been sought by Episcopalians. The Simon Wiesenthal Center had this to say about last year's Episcopal General Convention during which there was a resolution put forward to divest in all things Israel,

“Further, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, pushed for his church to take a new, anti-Israel position, with more than a dozen resolutions hostile to Israel tabled, leading Bishop Eugene Taylor Sutton from Maryland to decry the ‘piling on’ Israel, and asking, ‘Why the fixation on Israel?’
We applaud the efforts of some valiant voices to restore some balance, but they were too few. We also recognize that – contrary to the claims of BDS activists – TEC voted against divestment, and in favor of continuing its previous policy of select investment. But the new direction of the church was unmistakable.
'The hatred of Israel by many in this church is so severe, that a measure that would have reintroduced medieval Replacement Theology was defeated only by the slimmest of margins,' added Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, the Center’s director of interfaith affairs. 'It was only a confused last-minute about-face that stopped the church from removing the word ‘Israel’ from a Eucharistic prayer, and replacing it with ‘all nations’ or ‘our ancestors in faith,’ thereby rewriting the Bible. This is a sad indicator of the deep hostility to Israel in evidence at General Convention.'”

Sad indeed.