wfn.org | ABCUSA: Religious Leaders Seek Dialog with Bush on Iraq

["SCHRAMM, Richard" <Richard.Schramm@abc-usa.org>]

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa. 1/31/03)--American Baptist
Churches USA General Secretary the Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley has joined with 45
other Christian church leaders in requesting a face-to-face meeting with
President Bush to discuss the Iraq crisis and the implications of military
action.

In a letter sent today, the Protestant and Orthodox leaders, representing
faith communities related to the National Council of Churches of Christ,
requested the meeting as a means of continuing their attempts to seek "a way
toward peace that is both prophetic and practical."

The text of their letter states:

"Dear Mr. President:

"We greet you--our President, our nation's highest military leader, and a
member of the community of faith--in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

"At a time when our nation, and you as its leader, face unprecedented
challenges affecting the security of the United States and of the entire
world, we wish to bring to you the insights and perspective of one of the
largest segments of the Christian community of our country.

"Because you are weighing the prospect of war on Iraq and all the terrible
consequences that war involves, you will have faced firsthand the truth that
war is not only--or even primarily--a military matter. It is a moral and
ethical matter of the highest order, one that we have made a priority for
many months as the possibility of war has loomed on our national horizon.

"As leaders of tens of millions of Protestant and Orthodox Christians across
the United States, we are in touch with our clergy, with lay leaders and
with church members everywhere on this issue. We are also in communication
with our counterparts in Europe and elsewhere around the globe. Several of
us have traveled to Iraq in recent years, and even in recent days, to speak
with Iraqi people of faith. We draw on the tenets of our Christian faith in
all these encounters, seeking a way toward peace that is both prophetic and
practical.

"It is with the utmost urgency that we seek a meeting with you to convey
face-to-face the message of the religious community that we represent on the
moral choices that confront this nation and your Administration. You are no
doubt well aware of our activities to slow the rush to war and our
continuing uneasiness about the moral justification for war on Iraq. What we
ask now, as fellow believers and as the spiritual leaders of Americans in
congregations in every community of our great nation, is a pastoral
opportunity to bring this message to you in person.

"Be assured of our prayers always for you and the members of your
Administration, that God may keep and guide you."

K/2003ABNS/03ABN17

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (800)ABC-3USA x2077
/ (610)768-2077; fax: (610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org;
richard.schramm@abc-usa.org