This week’s General Council meeting in Kelowna, B. C. exemplified the trend, with four anti-Israeli motions on the agenda. Israel is one of the few places in the whole Middle East where Christians can worship in peace without worrying about some Islamist maniac blowing himself up in the pews. And so the fact that it also happens to be the one nation targeted for boycott by left-wing Christian denominations speaks to the ignorance, moral perversion and — in some cases — outright anti-Semitic bigotry that now informs their agenda.

Media attention surrounding the United Church’s boycott-Israel resolutions was gratifyingly scathing– so much so that all four resolutions were either withdrawn or defeated. This is a victory not only for common sense and moderate, non-bigoted United Church members, but also for Bernie Farber and his colleagues at the Canadian Jewish Congress.

Mr. Farber and the CJC often take their knocks in the media, including in this editorial column:Like many Canadians (including many Canadian Jews), we object to the group’s insistence on applying the Jewish community’s moral imprimatur on outdated, censorious hate-spech laws; as well as its bizarre insistence that the threat from 1980s-style neo-Nazis is still a menace to Canadians on par with Islamic extremism. But on the United-Church file, Mr. Farber and the CJC have been tireless. Indeed, a CJC delegation appeared on site at the United Church council meeting, and likely served to embarrass participants into distancing themselves from the four hateful resolutions.

Is there hope for the United Church? Probably not. While backing away from its quartet of hateful resolutions, the Church’s leadership still persisted in urging member congregations to launch their own grass-roots campaigns against the Jewish state. Canadian leftists already have plenty of outlets at their disposal if they’re looking to bash Israel and hold bake sales for Gaza or what not. It’s a tired ideological product being sold in a crowded market — which is why the church is dying.

Perhaps the folks at the United Church believe that their church’s extinction is a small price to pay to effect social justice in the Middle East. But Israel’s economy is doing fine these days — despite all the manifestos and boycott calls circulated by Western bienpensants. Which is to say: The boycott movement is not just a moral embarrassment, but pathetically futile as well.

Perhaps rather than trying to tear down Israel, the folks at the dying United Church might want to focus on their own survival instead.