wfn.org | Muslim, Christian, Jewish Leaders Release Joint Peace Guidelines

["Nat'l Council of Churches" <nccc_usa@ncccusa.org>]

National Council of Churches USA
Contact: news@ncccusa.org; 212-870-2252
www.ncccusa.org

As President Prepares to Announce Wars End 
Muslim, Christian, & Jewish Leaders Release Joint Declaration Issuing
Guidelines to Peace;
Call On President to Draw Back From First Strike War

April 30, 2003, CHICAGO - As President Bush prepared his Thursday evening
address to announce the end of the Iraq war, more than 75 Muslim,
Christian, Jewish and other faith leaders from across the United States
converged on Chicago to issue a set of principles to lead toward a peaceful
future.  The summit addressed the humanitarian, spiritual and civil costs of
war and its ramifications here at home.

The summit participants Urgent Call for Reflection, Hope and Action calls
on the President to:

7	draw back from the use and threat of first strike war;
7    draw back from unilateral US control over the reconstruction of Iraq;
7    bring the US occupation to a prompt end by transferring to the United
Nations and multilateral, non-governmental organizations the authority to
work with the Iraqi people toward Iraqs own reconstruction;
7    make available US resources as part of a world effort to serve the
needs and decisions of the Iraqi people.

The religious leaders also called on all people of faith to make this a time
of deliberate reflection and to gather in town meetings, teach-ins and other
community forums to explore what kind of society we seek to become.  In a
second document, titled Words of Reflection, they called for a national
day of prayer and reflection, with a special emphasis on interfaith
gatherings.  We further call on the President to distance himself from
religious leaders who demonize the faith of others, they said, and urged
Americans not to forget the continuing suffering of the Iraqi people, which
demands large-scale international humanitarian relief.

Full texts of the Urgent Call and Words of Reflection follow.  A list of
summit participants will be released Thursday or Friday.

AN URGENT CALL FOR REFLECTION, HOPE AND ACTION
Interfaith Summit
Chicago, Illinois
April 30, 2003

As people of faith and leaders of diverse religious communities, we
recognize that we are at a moment of choice even more urgent than before the
war in Iraq began. We are faced with choices between hope and courage or
fear and violence; between a future characterized by global solidarity,
international cooperation and multilateral action or one characterized by
unilateralism and wars by choice rather than necessity; continuing
terrorism; unfettered efforts to extend U.S. power, and the exploitation of
fear.

Let us not forget who we are as people of faith. We need to go deeper into
our religious traditions. Fear is part of the human condition and is only
addressed through faith. We are challenged now to trust in God and recognize
the source of true security. Our traditions teach us to envision a world of
peace with justice. They promise Gods capacity to transform a broken world
and Gods expectation that we are partners in the process.

As many Americans celebrate a moment of military victory, we, as people of
faith, ask all people to make this a time of deliberate reflection.

As we have since 9/11 and the beginning of the war on terrorism: we call for
greater understanding; we seek to dispel ignorance; we ask that this be a
time of humility not arrogance; and, we hope that all can be mindful of what
we have lost. We are mindful that while a repressive regime has been
destroyed, a country has been left in a power vacuum. We know as well that
those people experience their daily life as one of enormous needs and
insecurity.

War is a blunt instrument, which provides no lasting solution but too often
leads to further violence. We ask the American people to reflect now on the
price of unilateralism:

7	The cost of war and militarism
7	The human toll of the war in Iraq
7	The erosion of civil liberties in the United States
7	The shift of resources away from human need to military purposes

In order to reflect most effectively on the choices that we face we call on
interfaith leaders in every American community to gather in town meetings,
teach-ins and other forms of community reflection to explore what kind of
society we seek to become.

Drawing on all of our traditions that are rooted in justice, compassion and
peace, we say to the present leadership of the United States:

1.	draw back from the use and threat of first strike war
2.	draw back from unilateral U.S. control over the reconstruction of Iraq
3.	bring the U.S. occupation of Iraq to a prompt end by transferring to the
United Nations and multilateral, non-governmental organizations the
authority to work with the Iraqi people toward its own reconstruction
4.	make available U.S. resources as part of a world effort to serve the
needs and decisions of the Iraqi people.

 Finally, we call on our fellow religious leaders throughout the world to
join in convening an INTERNATIONAL INTERFAITH SUMMIT that will provide a
worldwide forum for religious leaders to meet and discuss in depth ways to
eliminate the rhetoric of hate and to end violence perpetrated in the name
of religion. Together we must work to find ways to embody the power of love,
compassion and justice in this fragile and interdependent world. We live in
HOPE!

Words of Reflection
April 30, 2003