Has the American Presbyterian Church gone mad? They “treasure the precious words of Hizbullah”? I’m mortified at this one. The Command Post, citing a story from the Jerusalem Post…

The Foreign Ministry Thursday canceled a scheduled meeting with a delegation from the American Presbyterian Church because the group met Hizbullah officials in Beirut and even had words of praise for the organization.Gadi Golan, the head of the ministry’s religious affairs bureau, said the decision was made after the ministry was informed of the delegation’s meeting with Sheikh Nabil Qauq, a Hizbullah leader in south Lebanon.

Golan said that one of the members of the church’s Mideast fact-finding delegation, Rev. Ronald Stone, a retired social ethics professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, was quoted on Hizbullah’s Al-Manar satellite network as saying, “Relations and conversations with Islamic leaders are a lot easier than dealings and dialogue with Jewish leaders.”

He also said, “We treasure the precious words of Hizbullah and your expression of goodwill toward the American people.”

This is an abomination! Precious words of Hizbullah? Goodwill to the American people? What goodwill? The only thing Hizbullah has ever done is murder US citizens! Not only did they have the gall to speak to representatives of a ruthless and murderous organization, but they actually praise them. I’m sure the families of those murdered by Hizbullah are just thrilled. This doesn’t appear to be the official stance of the church however.

Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, chief executive at church headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, said the Hizbullah visit and comments from delegation members “do not reflect the official position of the Presbyterian Church (USA) on peace in the Middle East,” and that they should not be interpreted as lessening its “commitment to continued Jewish-Christian dialogue, Muslim-Christian dialogue, or Jewish-Christian-Muslim dialogue.”

The American Presbyterian Church does not need members like these people.