Religion: PC-USA book publisher controversy

Previously, I had a short blog post on the latest controversy to roil the Presbyterian Church USA.

I wondered what PC-USA blogger Mark D. Roberts had to say about it.

When I had checked his blog, I missed the fact that he had tackled the subject already.

He was dismayed about the whole mess and wrote extensively about it. Excerpts:

When one of my faithful blog readers sent me a link to an article supposedly published in last Friday's Washington Times, at first I thought it must be some sort of bad joke. Who, I wondered, would have a wicked enough sense of humor to claim that the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, an arm of my denomination, the Presbyterian Church USA, published a book accusing the Bush administration of plotting the attacks of 9/11 in order to go to war to expand the "American empire"?

As it turns out, nobody had such a terrible sense of humor. The story is real. No joke. No laughter here, except perhaps from demons who enjoy seeing the Christian church inflict damage upon itself.
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But I do know that something is terribly wrong here. I can't help thinking that the PPC has lost touch with its true mission, seeking rather to be like other "academic/trade publishers" as it claims in its defense of publishing Griffin's book. The distinctive Christian mission of the PPC has been lost, not to mention the distinctive Reformed/Presbyterian emphasis, not to mention a clear sense of how the PPC is part of and should further the mission of the PCUSA.
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I think the PPC had the responsibility to realize that publishing this book would do a great deal of damage to the PCUSA. The last thing we need is controversy and division that we don't really need. So, yes, I think they shouldn't have published it because it is way too controversial.

The only justification I can see for publishing such a controversial and divisive book at this time is conviction about its truth and importance. To this date, nobody at the PPC has gone out on that limb. So I'm left with the idea that they did something hurtful to an already hurting denomination without an adequate reason.

If the PPC were an independent publisher, it would be a different story. But the PPC is part of the PCUSA, and has a responsibility to act in ways that do not injure the PCUSA.