wfn.org | Faith Leaders Call for Religious Response to Terrorism

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

DENY THEM THEIR VICTORY: A RELIGIOUS RESPONSE TO TERRORISM

Note to Readers:  If you wish to sign on, please e-mail either Bob Edgar at 
redgar@ncccusa.org
or Jim Wallis at jwallis@sojo.net.  List below is current as of 4 p.m. 
Friday, September 14.

We, American religious leaders, share the broken hearts of our fellow 
citizens.  The worst terrorist attack in history that assaulted New York 
City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, has been felt in every American 
community.  Each life lost was of unique and sacred value in the eyes of 
God, and the connections Americans feel to those lives run very deep.  In 
the face of such a cruel catastrophe, it is a time to look to God and to 
each other for the strength we need and the response we will make. We must 
dig deep to the roots of our faith for sustenance, solace, and wisdom.

First, we must find a word of consolation for the untold pain and suffering 
of our people. Our congregations will offer their practical and pastoral 
resources to bind up the wounds of the nation.

We can become safe places to weep and secure places to begin rebuilding our 
shattered lives and communities. Our houses of worship should become public 
arenas for common prayer, community discussion, eventual healing, and 
forgiveness.

Second, we offer a word of sober restraint as our nation discerns what its 
response will be. We  share the deep anger toward those who so callously 
and massively destroy innocent lives, no matter what the grievances or 
injustices invoked. In the name of God, we too demand that those 
responsible for these utterly evil acts be found and brought to 
justice.  Those culpable must not escape accountability.  But we must not, 
out of anger and vengeance, indiscriminately retaliate in ways that bring 
on even more loss of innocent life. We pray that President Bush and members 
of  Congress will seek the wisdom of God as they decide upon the 
appropriate response.

Third, we face deep and profound questions of what this attack on America 
will do to us as a nation. The terrorists have offered us a stark view of 
the world they would create, where the remedy to every human grievance and 
injustice is a resort to the random and cowardly violence of revenge  even 
against the most innocent. Having taken thousands of our lives, attacked 
our national symbols, forced our political leaders to flee their chambers 
of governance, disrupted our work and families, and struck fear into the 
hearts of our children, the terrorists must feel victorious.

But we can deny them their victory by refusing to submit to a world created 
in their image.  Terrorism inflicts not only death and destruction but also 
emotional oppression to further its aims.  We must not allow this terror to 
drive us away from being the people God has called us to be.  We  assert 
the vision of community, tolerance, compassion, justice, and the sacredness 
of human life,   which lies at the heart of all our religious traditions. 
America must be a safe place for all our citizens in all their diversity. 
It is especially important that our citizens who share national origins, 
ethnicity,
or religion with whoever attacked us are, themselves, protected among us.

Our American illusion of invulnerability has been shattered.  From now on, 
we will look at the world in a different way, and this attack on our life 
as a nation will become a test of our national character.  Let us make the 
right choices in this crisis - to pray, act, and unite against the bitter 
fruits of division,  hatred, and violence. Let us rededicate ourselves to 
global peace, human dignity, and the eradication of injustice that breeds 
rage and vengeance.

As we gather in our houses of worship, let us begin a process of seeking 
the healing and grace of God.

http://www.ncccusa.org