wfn.org | ACNS - A call to stop the rush to war

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

ACNS 3107 - WCC - 2 September 2002

A call to stop the rush to war

30 August 2002

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 US and UK 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 US Congress and the UK 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 UN 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)

(signed)

The Revd Katherine Bannister    United Methodist Church, USA
The Revd Alyson Barnett-Cowan    Anglican Church of Canada
Ms Marion Best    United Church of Canada
The Revd Ruth A Bottoms    Baptist Union of Great Britain
Ms Lois McCullough Dauway    United Methodist Church, USA
The Revd Dr Robert Edgar    National Council of Churches of Christ in the
USA
The Rt Revd C Christopher Epting    Episcopal Church, USA
Ms Alice-Jean Finlay    Anglican Church of Canada
The Revd Douglass Fromm    Reformed Church in America
Ms Anne Glynn-Mackoul    Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the
East
The Revd Dr David Goodbourn    Churches Together in Britain & Ireland
The Revd Wesley Granberg-Michaelson    Reformed Church in America
The Revd Dr Richard A Grounds    United Methodist Church, USA
The Revd Dr Richard L Hamm    Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the
US & Canada
Ms Elenie K Huszagh    National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA
Archbishop Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim    Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch
and all the East
The Revd Dr Clifton Kirkpatrick    Presbyterian Church - USA
The Very Revd Leonid Kishkovsky    Orthodox Church in America
The Revd Stan McKay    United Church of Canada
The Revd Roy Medley    American Baptist Churches, USA
The Rt Revd Barry Morgan    Church in Wales
Mr Naboth M Muchopa    Methodist Church, UK
Ms Jennifer Nagel    Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Mr Arthur Norman    Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Revd Dr Bernice Powell-Jackson    United Church of Christ, USA
The Revd Dr Bruce W Robbins    United Methodist Church, USA
The Rt Revd Barry Rogerson    Church of England
The Rt Revd Telmor Sartison    Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
The Revd Dr Robert E Sawyer    Moravian Church in America (Southern
Province)
The Revd Norman Shanks    Church of Scotland
The Revd Dr David Thompson    Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council
The Revd Jill Thornton    United Reformed Church of England
The Revd Dr Angelique Walker-Smith    National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc
The Revd Gethin Williams    Churches Together in Wales - Cytun
Ms Louise Williams    Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Revd Robina Winbush    Presbyterian Church - USA
Bishop McKinley Young    African Methodist Episcopal Church, USA

[Statement on behalf of the British representatives on the Central Committee
of the World Council of Churches, delivered today to the governments of the
USA and UK.]
_________________________________________________________
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