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Cell Phones and Democracy
Abstract: Are Methodist renewal organizations buying votes with cell phones?
The General Conference of the United Methodist Church is underway in Fort Worth, TX, but not without controversy. Delegates and church officials have begun to question whether the conference's democratic processes have been compromised by the gift of cell phones from a renewal group to more than 150 African and Filipino delegates.
The giving of cell phones exclusively to people of color outside the United States raises concerns about racial paternalism and about the renewal coalition's influence on he delegates who received gifts. According to Bishop Kenneth Carder, a professor at Duke Divinity School, the cell-phone giveaway "crosses the boundaries of what is appropriate in this kind of community, and I hope that it would cease. This seems to be an undue influence and violates the very essence of what it means to be Christian community." A joint monitoring team from the Commission on the Status and Role of Women and the Commission on Religion and Race said the giveaway “is inappropriate behavior and it destroys community."
One cell phone recipient said: "There were no strings attached to the cell phone. We appreciated it because it was a gift for us while we are here. We will use it to call friends in the United States. I do not know if it will work when General Conference is over."
