wfn.org | QUAKER ORGANIZATION SENDS LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH

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

HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION SENDS LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH
Worries Bush Administration "Invoking a Culture of War" That Leaves
"Little Space for Quiet Diplomacy"

PHILADELPHIA, PA (January 13) - In a recent letter, the American Friends
Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker humanitarian service organization,
urged President Bush to heed major U.S. religious leaders - including
those in his own denomination, that have expressed concerns about the
U.S.-led war with Iraq.

In the 2004 elections voters reportedly cited moral values as the "most
important issue."  Accordingly the letter penned by Paul Lacey, clerk of
the AFSC Board of Directors, questioned why the President recently
refused meeting with U.S. church leaders - including bishops from Bush's
own United Methodist Church.

"You preside over a nation deeply divided, and the deepest divisions,
the deepest distrusts, occur in questions with the most compelling moral
resonance," Lacey writes. "We are divided on questions of war and peace,
of social and economic justice, of how to combat terror and protect
citizens' constitutional rights."

Lacy goes on to write: "The battle lines become so sharply drawn that
there is little space for quiet diplomacy.  Increasingly, that space
between the battle lines will become an intellectual and spiritual ...
"no man's land."

"The strong can not expect the weak to placate them and call it healing.
If they do not believe they will be heard deeply, the weak and out of
power feel they have only stubborn resistance to sustain integrity,"
Lacey adds.

In February 2003, before the beginning of the Iraq war, 46 U.S.
religious leaders representing 11 denominations and 4 organizations
asked for a face-to-face meeting with the President. The White House
responded Bush did "not foresee an opportunity to add this event to the
calendar."

Had Bush agreed to the requested meeting with church leaders, Lacy
writes that "a door could also have been opened [and] some common ground
[for] shared work uncovered."

Other issues of concern cited in the letter were rising health care
costs and widening poverty in a land of plenty, with opportunities for a
better life foreclosed by the country's military expenditures.

"These and many more difficult and complex problems are exacerbated by
the spirit of fear, suspicion and hatred which dominated the recent
election," Lacey concludes, closing the letter "in friendship."
Paul Lacey's letter to President Bush can be found in its entirety on
the American Friends Service Committee website at www.afsc.org.

The American Friends Service Committee has a long history working for
peace and reconciliation in an atmosphere of war.  At the request of
Herbert Hoover, director of the American Relief Administration, the
Service Committee launched massive programs to feed millions of starving
children in post-war Germany. On behalf of the United Nations, AFSC
administered relief for over 200,000 refugees in the Gaza Strip in the
1940s. During World War II, AFSC provided temporary aid, housing and
other assistance to Japanese Americans in efforts to get them out of
internment camps.

In 1947, the American Friends Service Committee and its European
counterpart, the British Friends Service Council, accepted the Nobel
Peace Prize on behalf of Quakers worldwide for humanitarian relief
efforts.

# # #

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that
includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice,
peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the
worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome
violence and injustice.

Jenny Shields
Director, Media and Public Relations
American Friends Service Committee
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone: 215.241.7060
FAX: 215.241.7275