STATEMENTS ON IRAQ FROM
RELIGIOUS LEADERS
Prepared by the Lutheran Peace
Fellowship, 1710 11th Ave.,
Seattle, WA 98122, 206-720-0313, lpf@ecunet.org ; www.LutheranPeace.org.
Feel free to reproduce as a flyer or
to enlarge to poster size.
Catholic
We respectfully urge you to step back
from the brink of war and help lead the world to act together to
fashion an effective global response to Iraq's threats that conforms
with traditional moral limits on the use of military force. U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops, Letter to President Bush, Sept. 13, 2002
Episcopalian
The question for us now must be: what is
our role in the community of nations? I believe we have the capacity
within us to help lead our world into the way of justness and peace.
The freedoms we enjoy as citizens of the United States oblige us to
attend not only to our own welfare, but to the well-being of the world
around us. A superpower, especially one that declares itself to be
"under God," must exercise the role of super servant. Our nation has an
opportunity to reflect the values and ideals that we espouse by
focusing upon issues of poverty, disease and despair, not only within
our own nation but throughout the global community of which we are a
part. The Presiding Bishop's statement on military action against Iraq,
September 6, 2002
Jewish
International cooperation is far, far
better than unilateral action, and the U.S. must explore all reasonable
means of attaining such support. Non-military action is always
preferable to military action, and the U.S. must fully explore all
options to resolve the situation through such means. If the effort to
obtain international cooperation and support through the United Nations
fails, the U.S. must work with other nations to obtain cooperation in
any military action. Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Executive
Committee Decision on Unilateral Action by the U.S. Against Iraq
Lutheran
While we are fully aware of the
potential threat posed by the government of Iraq and its leader, I
believe it is wrong for the United States to seek to over-throw the
regime of Saddam Hussein with military action. Morally, I oppose it
because I know a war with Iraq will have great consequences for the
people of Iraq, who have already suffered through years of war and
economic sanctions. Further, I believe it is detrimental to U.S.
interests to take unilateral military action when there is strong
international support for weapons inspections, and when most other
governments oppose military action. I also believe that U.S. military
action at this time will further destabilize the region. I call upon
members of our congregations to be fervent in prayer, engaged in
conversation with one another and with our leaders. In the final
analysis, we must stand unequivocally for peace. ELCA Presiding Bishop
Mark S. Hanson's Statement on Iraq Situation, August 30, 2002
Mennonite
To speak against war and invasion is to
hold up a conviction that, in light of all uncertainties, peace and
security are enlarged when authorities choose the path of non-violent
diplomacy. The concerns noted above convince us that this is both a
moral and a practical path. Our call is also a statement of belief that
God wills the path of peace and will work alongside those who have the
courage to take risks for peace. Statement of the Mennonite Central
Committee, April 20, 2002
Methodist
United Methodists have a particular duty
to speak out against an unprovoked attack. President Bush and
Vice-President Cheney are members of our denomination. Our silence now
could be interpreted as tacit approval of war. Christ came to break old
cycles of revenge and violence. Too often, we have said we worship and
follow Jesus but have failed to change our ways. Jesus proved on the
cross the failure of state-sponsored revenge. It is inconceivable that
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior and the Prince of Peace, would
support this proposed attack. Secretary Jim Winkler of The United
Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, August 30, 2002
Presbyterian
We urge Presbyterians to oppose a
precipitate U.S. attack on Iraq and the Bush administration’s new
doctrine of pre-emptive military action. We call upon President George
W. Bush and other leaders to: Refrain from language that seems to label
certain individuals and nations as ‘evil’ and others as ‘good’; Oppose
ethnic and religious stereotyping, Guard against a unilateralism,
rooted in our unique position of political, economic and military
power, that perpetuates the perception that ‘might makes right’; Allow
United Nations weapons inspections in Iraq, without undue pressure or
threats of pre-emptive, unilateral action; and End the economic
sanctions against Iraq, which have been ineffectual but have done
untold damage to the Iraqi people. The General Assembly Council and the
staff leadership team of the Presbyterian Church (USA), September 28,
2002
Quaker (Society of
Friends)
We call upon Friends to witness and work
to prevent this war, to reverse this new military doctrine, to call
upon our governments to implement multilateral, diplomatic responses to
the threats posed by the government of Iraq, and to continue developing
positive, nonviolent approaches to resolving international conflicts.
We know that there are millions of people of good will with whom we can
join in this work. Joint Statement in Response to Threat of War with
Iraq from the General and Executive Secretaries of Five Quaker
Organizations, September 24, 2002
Unitarian Universalist
We will not all stand in the same place
on this issue. But we can all stand in the same faith. Above all, that
is my hope. In these troubling days and all those that lie ahead, my
deepest prayer is that we stand in this faith with Universalist Olympia
Brown, who wrote, over one hundred years ago, “Every nation must learn
that the people of all nations are children of God, and must share the
wealth of the world. You may say this is impracticable, far away, can
never be accomplished, but it is the work we are appointed to do."
Responding to the Threat of War: A Pastoral Letter from the Rev.
William G. Sinkford, President, Unitarian Universalist Association,
September 20, 2002
United Church of Christ
With heavy hearts we hear once again the
drumbeat of war against Iraq. As leaders committed to God’s reign of
justice and peace in the world and to the just conduct of our nation,
we firmly oppose this advance to war. While Iraq’s weapons potential is
uncertain, the death that would be inflicted on all sides in a war is
certain. Striking against Iraq now will not serve to prevent terrorism
or defend our nation’s interests. We fear that war would only provoke
greater regional instability and lead to the mass destruction it is
intended to prevent. UCC leaders, September 13, 2002
Ecumenical
As Christians, we are concerned by the
likely human costs of war with Iraq, particularly for civilians. We are
unconvinced that the gain for humanity would be proportionate to the
loss. Neither are we convinced that it has been publicly demonstrated
that all reasonable alternative means of containing Iraq's development
of weapons of mass destruction have been exhausted. We call upon our
governments to pursue these diplomatic means in active cooperation with
the United Nations and to stop the apparent rush to war. World Council
of Churches, August 30, 2002
We are compelled by the prophetic vision
of peace to speak a word of caution to our governments and our people.
We represent a diversity of Christian communities - from the just war
traditions to the pacifist tradition. As leaders of these communities
in the United States and the United Kingdom, it is our considered
judgment that a preemptive war against Iraq, particularly in the
current situation, would not be justified. Statement from Religious
Leaders, October 11, 2002
STATEMENTS FROM INTERNATIONAL FIGURES
Dr. Robert Muller
Dr. Robert
Muller, former assistant secretary general of the United
Nations, now Chancellor emeritus of the University of Peace in Costa
Rica was one of the people who witnessed the founding of the U.N. and
has worked in support of or inside the U.N. ever since. Recently he was
in San Francisco to be honored for his service to the world through the
U.N. and through his writings and teachings for peace. At age eighty,
Dr. Muller surprised, even stunned, many in the audience that day with
his most positive assessment of where the world stands now regarding
war and peace.
" I'm so honored to be here," he said. "I'm so honored to be alive at
such a miraculous time in history. I'm so moved by what's going on in
our world today."
Dr. Muller proceeded to say, "Never before in the history of the world
has there been a global, visible, public, viable, open dialogue and
conversation about the very legitimacy of war".
The whole world is in now having this critical and historic
dialogue--listening to all kinds of points of view and positions about
going to war or not going to war. In a huge global public conversation
the world is asking-"Is war legitimate? Is it illegitimate? Is there
enough evidence to warrant an attack? Is there not enough evidence to
warrant an attack? What will be the consequences? The costs?
What will happen after a war? How will this set off other
conflicts? What might be peaceful alternatives? What kind of
negotiations are we not thinking of? What are the real intentions for
declaring war?"
All of this, he noted, is taking place in the context of the United
Nations Security Council, the body that was established in 1949 for
exactly this purpose. He pointed out that it has taken us more than
fifty years to realize that function, the real function of the U.N. And
at this moment in history-- the United Nations is at the center of the
stage. It is the place where these conversations are happening, and it
has become in these last months and weeks, the most powerful governing
body on earth, the most powerful container for the world's effort to
wage peace rather than war. Dr. Muller was almost in tears in
recognition of the fulfillment of this dream.
" We are not at war," he kept saying. We, the world community, are
WAGING peace. It is difficult, hard work. It is constant and we must
not let up. It is working and it is an historic milestone of
immense proportions. It has never happened before-never in human
history-and it is happening now-every day every hour-waging peace
through a global conversation. He pointed out that the conversation
questioning the validity of going to war has gone on for hours, days,
weeks, months and now more than a year, and it may go on and on. "We're
in peacetime," he kept saying. "Yes, troops are being moved. Yes,
warheads are being lined up. Yes, the aggressor is angry and upset and
spending a billion dollars a day preparing to attack. But not one shot
has been fired. Not one life has been lost. There is no war. It's all a
conversation."
It is tense, it is tough, it is challenging, AND we are in the most
significant and potent global conversation and public dialogue in the
history of the world. This has not happened before on this scale ever
before-not before WWI or WWII, not before Vietnam or Korea, this is new
and it is a stunning new era of Global listening, speaking, and
responsibility.
In the process, he pointed out, new alliances are being formed. Russia
and China on the same side of an issue is an unprecedented outcome.
France and Germany working together to wake up the world to a new way
of seeing the situation. The largest peace demonstrations in the
history of the world are taking place--and we are not at war! Most
peace demonstrations in recent history took place when a war was
already waging, sometimes for years, as in the case of Vietnam.
" So this," he said, "is a miracle. This is what "waging peace " looks
like."
No matter what happens, history will record that this is a new era, and
that the 21st century has been initiated with the world in a global
dialogue looking deeply, profoundly and responsibly as a global
community at the legitimacy of the actions of a nation that is
desperate to go to war.
Through these global peace-waging efforts, the leaders of that nation
are being engaged in further dialogue, forcing them to rethink, and
allowing all nations to participate in the serious and horrific
decision to go to war or not.
Dr. Muller also made reference to a recent New York Times article that
pointed out that up until now there has been just one superpower-the
United States, and that that has created a kind of blindness in the
vision of the U.S. But now, Dr. Muller asserts, there are two
superpowers: the United States and the merging, surging voice of the
people of the world.
All around the world, people are waging peace. To Robert Muller, one of
the great advocates of the United Nations, it is nothing short of a
miracle and it is working.
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Statments On Iraq
From Religious Leaders
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Dr. Robert Muller
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