Haha - Methodist ministers don't want Bush library at SMU

Bush is (allegedly) a Methodist. I have little doubt, however, that he uses religion as a convenience, a mere cover, to garner votes.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4481941.html

Jan. 19, 2007, 12:34AM
Clergy protest Bush libraryLink to SMU 'inappropriate,' say Methodist ministers in an online petition

By THOMAS KOROSEC
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Dallas Bureau

DALLAS — A group of Methodist ministers launched a petition drive Thursday asking church members to pressure Southern Methodist University to drop its bid for George W. Bush's presidential library.

''As United Methodists, we believe that the linking of his presidency with a university bearing the Methodist name is utterly inappropriate," the online petition states.

Organizers who are looking for support among the church's 11 million members say they object to the war in Iraq, the use of torture on prisoners and the death penalty, among other issues.

"What this (petition) will show is there are a lot of Methodists out there who don't wish to give him the gift of our good name because he doesn't deserve it," said the Rev. Andrew Weaver of Brooklyn, N.Y.

"Bush has not been willing to speak with Methodist bishops about the war, but he will meet with Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. Why now is he choosing a Methodist school for his library and think tank?" asked Weaver, who graduated from SMU's Perkins School of Theology.

But Bush told a Belo Corp. television reporter in Washington that he is "leaning heavily toward" locating the library at SMU.

"I understand there are some who have reservations," Bush said. "And my advice to them is, understand that a library and institution would enhance education, be a place for interesting discussion and be a place for people to express their views and write and think, and these universities I think understand that and are excited about the prospects, and so am I."

Brad Cheves, SMU's vice president for development and external affairs, said the library has become a focal point for criticism of the Bush presidency.

"These are contentious times with all that has happened," he said.

Cheves said the school's supporters, "this campus, the university community," trustees and administrators back the school's effort to land the Bush complex, which will include a library, museum and public policy institute.

The school's 40-member board has backed the library bid. Trustees include three Methodist bishops and two members of the clergy. Half of the board is Methodist, he said.

The United Methodist Church approves the board of trustees every four years at a general assembly meeting, the next one to be held in 2008.

Cheves said the structure, which delegates "all operational authority" to the board, maintains the university's independence and secular nature.

SMU emerged as the lone finalist in a competition among several Texas universities for the library when the site-selection committee said last month that it was entering into further discussions with the 11,000-student, private university.

Since then, a group of 68 faculty members has complained that the library complex's public policy institute dedicated to the Bush administration's views would hurt the school's reputation.
At a faculty meeting Wednesday, SMU President Gerald Turner said the library's benefits would increase the school's visibility nationwide, and he predicted that political passions surrounding the project would fade.

The names of 10 former and current Methodist bishops and several ministers and lay people appear at the bottom of the ministers' petition on the Web site www.ProtectSMU.org.

By Thursday afternoon, more than 3,000 others had signed the electronic petition, including a smattering of people who expressed support for the president and jokers who signed names such as Osama bin Laden and My Pet Goat.

Lyle Wedemeyer, who described himself as a Methodist from Minneapolis, wrote, "I totally object to the affiliation of an open-minded denomination with a close-minded conservative radical like George W. Bush."

But Paul Mead Taggert, who said he was a Methodist from Lakeland, Fla., posted the message: "I find this petition appalling. You are doing Satan's work."

Diane Moreland, who did not give a hometown, wrote, "As a lifelong Methodist, I have always felt that our denomination believes in peace and this president has wasted thousands of lives and billions of dollars fighting an unjustifiable war."