United Methodists call for restraint on Iraq
"Jesus rejects the violent response"
By Joretta Purdue
WASHINGTON (UMNS) – The president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops has added a pastoral letter to the voices calling for restraint in dealing with Iraq, and she is asking United Methodists – including the U.S. president and vice president – to join in praying for peace.
"A pre-emptive war by the United States against a nation like Iraq goes against the very grain of our understanding of the Gospel, our church's teachings and our conscience," wrote Bishop Sharon A. Brown Christopher, of Springfield, Ill., in a letter issued Oct. 4.
"Pre-emptive strike does not reflect restraint and does not allow for the adequate pursuit of peaceful means for resolving conflict," she wrote. "To be silent in the face of such a prospect is not an option for followers of Christ."
Christopher acknowledged that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's treatment of people in his own country and in neighboring nations has been horrifying, but she asserts, "Jesus rejects the violent response to evil."
Instead, she calls all United Methodists to pray for the leaders of the nations as they make crucial decisions, and to pray especially for President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, who are United Methodists. She asks that church members share their concerns about war and peace with these leaders.
For at least six weeks, United Methodists have been voicing objections to Bush's call for a preemptive strike that would launch a war with Iraq, although no one is claiming universal agreement among the denomination's 9.7 million members worldwide. Only the General Conference, the denomination's highest legislative body, can speak for the denomination; it last met in 2000 and won't convene again until 2004.
Jim Winkler, staff head of the churchwide Board of Church and Society, was one of the first leaders in the denomination to voice opposition. In a statement, he emphasized that United Methodists have a special role to play because both the president and vice president are members of the church.
‘Farsighted’ policy needed
The denomination's Virginia Conference Board of Church and Society is one of the more recent organizations to publish its concerns. In a statement issued Oct. 3, the conference board urged U.S. leaders to "direct their focus to forming an appropriate, farsighted, anti-terrorism policy that uses international justice systems to curb terrorism.
"As we issue this call for peaceful resolution, we recognize the chaos and destruction that Saddam Hussein has perpetrated. Nothing we are saying here implies support or even tolerance for his ideology or policies," the board said. It affirmed the belief that God's will is that nations live together in peace.
On Oct. 3, the European Methodist Youth Council also approved a resolution during its meeting in Parnu, Estonia, which said in part, "We do not want to take a position of silent approval of violent action and its political implications. This problem cannot be solved by war."
"We believe that the loss of human life that will be inevitably caused by this war is unjustifiable," the council said.
The Rev. Shaun Casey, an assistant professor of Christian ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary, one of many such institutions related to the United Methodist Church, gathered the support of 100 Christian ethicists for a declaration issued on Sept. 25:
"As Christian ethicists, we share a common moral presumption against a pre-emptive war on Iraq by the United States."
"We believe war and bloodshed are contrary to the gospel and spirit of Christ. We believe it is the duty of Christian citizens to give moral strength and purpose to their governments through sober, righteous and godly living," the authors of this statement wrote, quoting Article 16 of the United Methodist Church's Confession of Faith.
"During this time, when the spirit of war seeks our unquestioned allegiance, we would ask that all Christians and all people who seek the common good offer to the world 'sober, righteous and godly living' rather than more violence, death and war," the call continues.
The call for peace also said its signers believe the conditions required by those who do believe in the concept of a just war "have not been met – We categorically deny that war against Iraq would be legitimate."
First priority: diplomacy
"I believe we need to use all diplomacy that we can as the first priority," said Bishop Melvin Talbert, ecumenical officer of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, in an interview with United Methodist News Service. "War should always be the last resort."
He recalled being in a delegation of church leaders that went into Baghdad in December 1990 in an effort to avert the Persian Gulf War, which began the following month. What he learned on that trip, he said, is that many people in the Middle East were praying and hoping to avoid war.
"I believe that a nation like ours, rather than doing the saber rattling, should be out front negotiating" and working for peace, Talbert said of the current situation. "The disappointment that I have had with our administration is that we have not done that. We have acted as if war is the only way. That concerns me greatly."
Talbert said Bush's early statements made it hard for religious leaders to object to the administration's proposals without appearing supportive of terrorists. "And no one of us would support what happened," he said. "I think that time is past now, and religious leaders are speaking out.
"The emphasis needs to be in support of the United Nations," Talbert said. "It's hard for me to see the United States going this whole thing alone. É In the long run, I think we'd regret that."
Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker of the Florida Area, writing to United Methodists and media in his state, expressed support for a Florida Council of Churches statement urging President Bush not to commit U.S. military forces to a war with Iraq to depose the regime of Saddam Hussein.
"If there is a need to conduct an invasion, it should be under the authority of the community of nations known as the United Nations, since a war on Iraq will affect the whole world," he said.
Whitaker said he did not wish to offend the president and is not a pacifist, but he warned that "even a brief Ôsuccessful' war would still have significant consequences that cannot be anticipated."
Bishop Felton Edwin May of the Washington Area sent letters to the U.S. senators who are United Methodists, urging them "to help shape a national policy that is committed to exploring every opportunity for peacemaking."
International voices
The president of the British Methodist Church sent a Sept. 12 letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, advising that military force should only be used against Iraq as a last resort and not without U.N. authorization.
"If political, diplomatic and moral pressure do not succeed in reintroducing U.N. weapon inspectors into Iraq and dismantling all weapons of mass destruction, military action against Iraq must be authorized by a new resolution of the United Nations," the Rev. Ian T. White wrote.
The World Methodist Council's executive committee, meeting in Oslo, Norway, last month, called on its own leaders and members of all its churches to urge Iraqi compliance with U.N. security resolutions and to advocate that any nation threatening pre-emptive action comply with the U.N. charter. The council represents more than 37 million people from 78 member churches in 132 countries.
The World Council of Churches' central committee also expressed "concern and alarm" about the U.S. aim to overthrow Iraq's government. In a statement approved Sept. 2 at a meeting in Geneva, the committee called on the United States "to desist from any military threats against Iraq"; urged U.S. allies "to resist pressures to join in pre-emptive military strikes against a sovereign state under the pretext of the Ôwar on terrorism'"; and called on Iraq to comply with U.N. demands to destroy its weapons of mass destruction and guarantee full rights for all its citizens.
The central committee also addressed peace issues in other parts of the world during its meeting Aug. 26-Sept. 3. The WCC numbers 342 churches from more than 100 countries in its fellowship.
Before the central committee's resolution, several United Methodists at the WCC meeting issued a statement Aug. 29 titled, "A Call To Stop the Rush to War." It called on the U.S. administration to work with Congress, the United Nations and its allies for counsel in dealing with Iraq. It also expressed concern about the impact military action would have on Christian-Muslim relations.
A blow to the poor
Bread for the World issued a statement warning that such a war would increase hunger and starvation. On Oct. 4, the Christian citizens' movement against hunger – which includes United Methodists on its board – began its statement with the words, "The United States is headed toward war against Iraq."
"One-third of all Iraqi children suffer from malnutrition," the organization noted. If the United States attacks Iraq, many would die or be maimed and "hunger would increase further," the document said.
"A war against Iraq could further damage the already weak world economy. Wars É divert investment and spending from development and poverty reduction to military mobilization," Bread for the World said. "Even before the first bomb is dropped, the headlong rush to war is hurting families who struggle with hunger and poverty" overseas and in the United States.
The U.S. federal budget slid from a $236 billion surplus to a $165 billion deficit, and states are slashing social services, the organization said. "Emergency food pantries are reporting increases in the numbers of people seeking food, 40 percent of them from working families."
When contacted by United Methodist News Service, officials at Good News, an independent organization of church members, said their organization had not taken a position on this issue.
Kathryn J. Johnson, staff head of the Methodist Federation for Social Action, a caucus of activists, spoke for herself on the issue, since her group hasn't issued any statements on the current question of war with Iraq. She called on citizens to raise their voices publicly for peace, to stand for life – not death.
"We are complicit in the actions that unfold in the weeks ahead," she said Oct. 1. "The blessing of living in a democracy carries with it the responsibility to make our voices heard. It is within our power to stop this war now. I pray that we use it."
Purdue is Washington news director for United Methodist News Service.
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