wfn.org | Christian leaders urge U.S. to 'stop rush to war' with Iraq

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Aug. 30, 2002   News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.  10-21-71B{382}

By United Methodist News Service

A group of 37 Christian leaders at an international meeting in Geneva,
Switzerland, are calling on the U.S. government to use restraint in dealing
with Iraq.

The leaders, including several United Methodists, issued a statement Aug.
29, "A Call to Stop The Rush To War," urging the United States to seek the
counsel of Congress, the United Nations and allies in dealing with Iraq. The
religious leaders are in Geneva for a meeting of the World Council of
Churches Central Committee.

"We are concerned about the situation in Iraq," the leaders say in their
statement. "We believe that the Iraqi government has a duty to stop its
internal repression, to end its threats to peace, to abandon its efforts to
develop weapons of mass destruction, and to respect the legitimate role of
the United Nations in ensuring that it does so. But we also believe that the
international community is weakened and respect for law undermined when
national governments act individually rather than collectively to secure
these goals." 

The leaders express concern for the impact that military action would have
on Christian-Muslim relations and the possibility that it would trigger an
attack on Israel. They also say they don't believe that "all reasonable
alternative means of containing Iraq's development of weapons of mass
destruction have been exhausted."

Signers include the Rev. Robert Edgar, top staff executive of the National
Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and NCC President Elenie
Huszagh. Edgar is a United Methodist.

Other United Methodist signers include: the Rev. Kathryn Bannister of
Kansas, president of the World Council of Churches in North America; Lois
McCullough Dauway, a staff executive with the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries in New York; the Rev. Richard A. Grounds of Tulsa, Okla.;
and the Rev. Bruce W. Robbins, top staff executive of the United Methodist
Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns in New York.

Other signers represent the African Methodist Episcopal Church; British
Methodist Church; Anglican Church of Canada; the Baptist Union of Great
Britain; the United Church of Canada; the Episcopal Church USA; the Reformed
Church in America, the Christian Church-Disciples of Christ in the U.S. and
Canada; Churches Together in Britain & Ireland; Greek Orthodox Patriarchate
of Antioch and all the East; the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and
all the East; Presbyterian Church - USA.

Also represented are the Orthodox Church in America; United Church of
Canada; American Baptist Churches, USA; Church in Wales; British Methodist
Church; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; United Church of Christ,
USA; Church of England; Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada; Moravian
Church in America-Southern Province; Church of Scotland; Disciples
Ecumenical Consultative Council; United Reformed Church of England; National
Baptist Convention USA Inc.; and Churches Together in Wales - Cytun.

# # #

The full statement follows:

"A Call To Stop The Rush To War"

As representatives and participants from the United States, British and
Canadian churches meeting at the Central Committee of the World Council of
Churches, we have heard and share the concern of those of other nations
about the apparent drift towards military confrontation in Iraq.

As the calls for military action to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq
have grown louder, we call for restraint. We are concerned about the
situation in Iraq. We believe that the Iraqi government has a duty to stop
its internal repression, to end its threats to peace, to abandon its efforts
to develop weapons of mass destruction, and to respect the legitimate role
of the United Nations in ensuring that it does so. But we also believe that
the international community is weakened and respect for law undermined when
national governments act individually rather than collectively to secure
these goals. 

We have watched with growing alarm as the United States government has
become increasingly unilateral in its approach to foreign affairs, and has
failed to heed the advice and counsel of friends and allies.

Although both the U.S. and U.K. governments have claimed that they have
evidence that Saddam Hussein is building up weapons of mass destruction,
they have so far refused to make that evidence public. This undermines
democratic government by depriving the U.S. Congress and the U.K. Parliament
of the ability to make a considered judgment regarding the justification for
war. Furthermore, the United Nations Charter does not permit states to
engage in pre-emptive war. We therefore urge our governments to pursue this
matter through the United Nations Security Council: In particular, we urge
that Saddam Hussein's offer to re-admit U.N. Weapons Inspectors be accepted.

Our knowledge of and links with church partners in the Middle East and our
unity in Christ with Christians there make us very sensitive to the
destabilizing potential of a war against Iraq for the whole region. There is
no support among the Arab nations for such a war and very little support in
Europe and elsewhere. Christian-Muslim relations would be further harmed by
such a war, and the possibility of such an action triggering direct military
confrontation in Israel cannot be ignored. Further, the forces of extremism
and terrorism would be strengthened rather than diminished.

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. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."
(Matthew 5:9)

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United Methodist News Service
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